Ground Breaking Data Confirms Who Between Lane Kiffin & Kalen Deboer Was Left Out of Playoffs Unfairly

College football regular season 2024 has been a tumultuous ride so far. We are waiting to see the trophy in either Marcus Freeman or Ryan Day’s hand a week later, but the situation was different a month back. We have a bunch of SEC, Big 10, and Big 12 giants in the race. The updated top 12 format made it easier for many teams to proceed far in the season than they had ever expected, but Ole Miss, Alabama, and a lot of other big programs weren’t on that list. While many of the teams tied in the win-loss record, the CFP chairperson set them apart regarding the schedule of strength and the overall body of work.

And guess what? This whole process rubbed one coach the wrong way, and it’s the Rebels’ Lane Kiffin. Alabama fans joined the race and lamented over the injustice they have faced. Days after the debate, finally, a minute observation seemed to settle the dust for good.

Lane Kiffin’s anti-CFP rant finally found its ground

This season has seen Notre Dame, a team that had their national championship 37 years back, tone up for the last challenge in their way to recreate history. Teams like Indiana stunned the world, winning ten games in a row with an undefeated tag under wonder guy Curt Cignetti. But there is always a reverse side of the story. Ole Miss fell out of the bracket of the top 12 after week 14. The CFP ranking placed them at No. 13 while granted Alabama and SMU Mustangs No. 11 and 12, respectively.

Just a week later, Alabama was out too, giving it to the SMU over an SOS battle. The question it still begs is which team has the most unjustified elimination. Is it Ole Miss that had nine double-digit wins, including two blockbusters against South Carolina and Georgia, or is it Alabama who finished 9-3 with three wins against the top 25 ranked teams and had a blueblood tag on their back to flex?

Well, judging by the odds minutely, analyst Dave Bartoo had an eye-popping take. You may have heard the word schedule of strength multiple times in the season, especially during the justification speech of Warde Manuel. However, in contrast, Dave believes SOS doesn’t matter as much as Scoring Efficiency in determining a team’s worth in the season. He thinks only Ohio State and Notre Dame can match up to the elite balance on both sides being top 5 in offensive and defensive scoring efficiency in the regular season.

Putting it out on his X, the analyst wrote, ”This is also why I felt @Lane_Kiffin and the Rebs were the best team left out. They were #4 in opponent-adjusted scoring efficiency behind OSU Texas and ND. Nothing to do with SOS because it does not correlate with team quality. But Scoring Efficiency absolutely does.”

Finally, Kiffin gets the much-needed validation that he had been desperately looking for a few weeks back. He blasted the committee for their unfair moves to hype the ACC (given Clemson’s spot in the top 12) and also took a shot at Miami and Mario Cristobal. Before Alabama received the same treatment, Kiffin also made a CFP case for Ole Miss over Alabama.

The late but solid validation of Kiffin’s rant made the Bama’s protest rail a bit weaker.

Alabama thoroughly made its case to deserve a playoff spot 

The Bama fans’ playoff inclusion joy turned out short-lived. Effect of a Lane Kiffin curse? Well, not sure, but you can blame the stars or Dabo Swinney’s flawless field goal at the dying moment of the ACC championship game.

SMU edged out Alabama on SOSS grounds. SMU had already beaten out the early slump and posed a comeback to tie the game, but Clemson hit a long field goal and wrapped off their dream, passively Kalen DeBoer’s dream, too. The Tigers, consequently, earned an automatic bid, putting Alabama and SMU for a close comparison in the CFP race.

Unfortunately, the Bama came out short again. ”We looked at the number of wins that Alabama had against ranked opponents. We looked at SMU’s schedule and they were undefeated in conference, their losses were to ranked teams. But we also looked at Alabama’s loss to unranked teams, ” the CFP chairperson justified their action.

The Bama squad aren’t the ones to back off, though. Athletic director Greg Byrne argued, “Six of our eight wins are against bowl-eligible teams and have come against some of the top teams in the SEC, including SEC champion Georgia.” Byrne also noted that Alabama was No. 3 in opponents’ winning percentage and No. 17 in ESPN strength of schedule.

But the latest intel to the debate made their argument a bit hollow in comparison to Lane Kiffin. Thanks to the lesser-used term in our dictionary, scoring efficiency.