Last weekend in college football was full of twists and turns, but it probably won’t be enough to get Ole Miss into the top 12, no matter what happens in the conference championship games. Lane Kiffin, the Rebels’ coach, took to social media to hype up his team, saying that they are indeed better than Alabama to make the playoff. It’s a bold statement, and it seems like he’s trying to convince the College Football Playoff committee to reconsider their rankings.

In order to demonstrate his team’s superiority over Alabama, Lane Kiffin posted a daring X post on December 2 about his team’s CFP standing. “Clearly Ole Miss should be in the playoff over Alabama, but Bama is the bigger brand and more than likely will get in over Ole Miss,” the post noted. It just shows how committed the coach is to his team. He made his final attempt to secure a well-deserved position for his team, even though he was aware of the playoff situation. The most fascinating aspect is that he supported his assertion with data rather than conjecture.

According to Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss ought to be ahead of Alabama and South Carolina for the final playoff spot. Alabama has nine victories over its foes, 371-119 (+252), while Ole Miss also has nine victories, 390-94 (+296). And both teams have suffered three defeats. Ole Miss was scored 73-60 (-13) in its 3 defeats, while Bama was outperformed 88-55 (-33) in 3 defeats. In fact, both Bama and Ole Miss beat Georgia and South Carolina. But the Rebels did it more convincingly, winning by bigger margins in both games. Hope that after viewing this layout, you will also concur with Kiffin’s choice.

Why not? Every CFB fan now knows how much the Rebels have improved under Kiffin’s tutelage. In the Egg Bowl on Friday, the squad, which has a 9-3 overall record, defeated Mississippi State, an in-state foe, 26-14, preserving its slender hopes of making the CFB Playoffs. 

The CFP spot of Rebels over the Gamecocks is still up for debate, though. Do they have a stronger brand than SC or do they play better than SC? Check it out.

Can Lane Kiffin’s Rebels beat South Carolina?

With South Carolina’s victory over Clemson on Saturday, the Rebels, who were defeated by the Florida Gators the previous week, are vying for one of the remaining CFP slots. “First off, I have great respect for South Carolina. I think they’re a really good team. Well coached, and really good players. But when you just said South Carolina jumping us—why do we even play games? If South Carolina were to jump us, and we play in the same conference with a very similar schedule, but the same record. Normally you would say ‘what would happen if they played each other?’ Well, we did. We went to their place and ran them out of their place. I mean it was a 24-point SEC road win, and we’re just handing the ball off in the fourth quarter to get out of there,” said Kiffin.

However, the head coach’s recent statement mostly focused on Alabama and diminished the battle with the Gamecocks. Let’s now see whether Kiffin’s confident words have any bearing on the CFP committee’s ranking. It will be interesting to see that the Rebels have a coach with excellent insight.