How College Football Playoff Selection Committee Handled Ole Miss After Lane Kiffin Departure

03 Dec 2025, 00:46 · The Fresno Bee

A week ago, coming off of a bye and preparing for the Egg Bowl-and Lane Kiffin's eventual decision on his coaching future-Mississippi was ranked No. 7 in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Plenty has happened in the week since.

Kiffin and the Rebels handled business against Mississippi State, winning its Friday afternoon rivalry game 38–19. The enigmatic coach then kept the entire sport waiting all day Saturday (making it fairly clear that the question was how, not if, he would leave for LSU) before finally making it official on Sunday. Ole Miss quickly moved to name defensive coordinator Pete Golding as the full-time head coach to replace him.

Before Kiffin's departure, CFP selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek said that if Ole Miss didn't reach the SEC championship without him on the sideline, the committee would not have a data point with which to judge a new, Kiffin-less Rebels squad. Ole Miss won't head to Atlanta because Alabama beat Auburn Saturday night, so Golding will making his coaching debut in the CFP with the LSU-bound offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. returning to the Rebels to call the offense during the postseason.

The latest CFP rankings were released moments ago on ESPN, and even after all of that movement and uncertainty, the committee appeared to only take into account what happened on the field in Starkville, moving the Rebels up to the No. 6 spot, one ahead of Texas A&M, which plummeted from No. 3 to No. 7 after a loss to Texas.

That is very good news for Golding's program, which is off as Alabama and Georgia face off for the conference title next week. While Yurachek confirmed that idle teams can still be moved depending on how conference championship weekend plays out (a bigger concern for Notre Dame and Miami), Ole Miss should be in very good shape to host a first-round playoff game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to begin its playoff run.

As the No. 6-seed, the Rebels are in line to face the fourth-highest ranked conference champion. If No. 17 Virginia beats Duke to win the ACC, that will likely be the Cavaliers. If Duke pulls the upset, the American champion-either No. 20 Tulane or No. 24 North Texas-will likely head to Oxford, Miss.

The CFP selection show will take place on Sunday, Dec. 7 beginning at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How College Football Playoff Selection Committee Handled Ole Miss After Lane Kiffin Departure.

This story was originally published December 2, 2025 at 4:46 PM.