Lane Kiffin Gives Take on Why South Carolina Shouldn’t Jump Ole Miss in CFP Rankings

The Ole Miss Rebels may not reach the College Football Playoff this season, but head coach Lane Kiffin doesn’t think a particular SEC program should jump his team to get into the field.

On a Sunday afternoon Zoom call with local media, Kiffin was asked about the potential of the South Carolina Gamecocks jumping the Rebels in this week’s CFP Rankings. Carolina has won six straight games to finish the regular season at 9-3, including picking up a 17-14 win over in-state rival Clemson on Saturday.

One of the Gamecocks’ three losses just so happens to be a 24-point defeat against Ole Miss on Oct. 5. It’s not yet known what the College Football Playoff committee will do in this week’s rankings, but is there an argument for a red-hot Carolina team to jump Ole Miss?

The Rebels were ranked No. 14 in last week’s CFP Top 25, and the Gamecocks were at No. 15.

“First off, I have great respect for South Carolina,” Kiffin said. “I think they’re a really good team. Really good team. Well-coached, really good players. But when you just said that, South Carolina jumping us, why do we even play games?

“Normally you’d say, ‘Well, what would happen if they played each other?’ Well we did, and we went to their place and ran them out of their place. A 24-point SEC win, and we’re just handing the ball off in the fourth quarter to get out of there. If the committee is even thinking about that, then what do you play the games for?”

Kiffin then circled back to his original point in his lengthy quote to hammer home his point. Ole Miss beat South Carolina 27-3 in early October, and he’s confident that his team would still win in that matchup, if it were played today.

“That’s what everybody always says: ‘What if this team played this? Then how would they do?’” Kiffin said. “That’s the hard thing in comparing these different conferences. Well we did at their place, and it wasn’t even close. We could still be playing the game, and they still might not have scored a touchdown.”

Ole Miss finished the regular season 9-3, and it seems that its chance to return to the College Football Playoff conversation is on life support. Still, it will be keeping a close eye on the new edition of CFP Rankings that are revealed on Tuesday night.