Why I ranked Ole Miss football No. 10 above Penn State, Utah on my AP Top 25 ballot
There’s a fun debate to be had surrounding Ole Miss football. The Rebels’ win at Auburn on Saturday came in an interesting week of college football, and it opens a discussion as the latest AP Top 25 dropped Sunday.
How does Lane Kiffin’s squad compare to other one-loss teams sitting in the upper half of the poll? The collection – Oregon, Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss, Utah, Penn State, Oregon State and Missouri – can be divided into three tiers. For me, Ole Miss is atop the second one.
Oregon, Texas and Alabama feel to still be a step above Ole Miss. Whether it be the eye test (Oregon looked great in its lone loss at Washington) or the transitive property (Alabama beat Ole Miss, Texas beat Alabama), those three are ahead of the other one-loss teams.
Then there’s the second tier which I believe includes Utah, Penn State and Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1 SEC). When compiling my ballot this week, deciding how to rank those three between 10-12 was the toughest task.
I put the Rebels at No. 10. They have the offense I’m most confident in among those three, and their defense has answered many of the question surrounding it entering the season. I’d also feel confident in picking Ole Miss to beat either Penn State or Utah on a neutral field today.
Oregon State and Missouri round out that third tier, and I’ve got those two ranked No. 13 and No. 14, respectively.
Can Ole Miss make the College Football Playoff?
Kiffin could put all my tiers to shame across the next few weeks. If Ole Miss takes care of business at home against Vanderbilt (Oct. 28) and Texas A&M (Nov. 4), it’ll set up for a premier matchup at No. 1 Georgia on Nov. 11.
Pull of the upset, and suddenly Ole Miss is in a discussion well above cracking the top 10 of a poll. The Rebels would be in the mix for the College Football Playoff, though they’d likely need some help.
Alabama has a clear route to winning the SEC West. Even if Nick Saban’s team slips up against LSU, Kentucky or Auburn, they have a win over Ole Miss to settle any tiebreaker. However, if the Tide does drop a game, things get interesting. What if Alabama, with two losses, beats Georgia in the SEC title game and hands the Bulldogs their second loss?
Or, what if the regular season ends with Georgia, Alabama and Ole Miss all having one loss. Kiffin should be rooting against Saban in that scenario. If Georgia hands Alabama its second loss in the SEC title game, but Ole Miss has the win over Georgia, a case could be made for the Rebels representing the SEC in the College Football Playoff.
There’s something important to remember here, though. If, and perhaps when, Ole Miss loses at Georgia, the CFP hopes are gone. Also, there’s a game on Thanksgiving that Ole Miss would have to win too, and rivals typically embrace any chance of playing spoiler.
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Stefan Krajisnik’s AP Top 25 after Week 8
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. Washington
6. Oklahoma
7. Oregon
8. Texas
9. Alabama
10. Ole Miss
11. Utah
12. Penn State
13. Oregon State
14. Missouri
15. LSU
16. Duke
17. Tennessee
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18. Air Force
19. North Carolina
20. Louisville
21. Notre Dame
22. UCLA
23. Tulane
24. James Madison
25. USC
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football: Why I ranked Rebels in top 10 of latest AP poll
