CFP Selection Committee Chair 'Impressed' With Recent Ole Miss Performances

CFP Selection Committee chair Warde Manuel stated that his delegation has been impressed by Ole Miss as of late.

Nov 9, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) runs the ball during the second half against the Georgia Bulldogs at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels received some good news on Tuesday night as they remained in the updated College Football Playoff projections, coming in at No. 9 in the latest CFP Rankings.

Following the release of the rankings, CFP Selection Committee chair Warde Manuel fielded questions in a media teleconference, and one of those questions dealt with Ole Miss in particular. The Rebels didn't play a game last week, but they moved up two spots in this week's rankings.

What went into that decision?

"Well, part of it was the loss by BYU and Tennessee that were ahead of them," Manuel said. "The other part is they really did perform -- they had a great performance against Georgia, as you know, and really dominant on both sides of the ball in that win.

"For the most part, we've been impressed with [quarterback] Jaxson Dart. We've been impressed with their defense and how they have performed. Two close losses to Kentucky and LSU. We've been impressed with them, and I think they really moved up because they performed well and the teams ahead of them have had losses."

That's even more good news for the Rebels, if they keep winning. It seems that the dominant win over Georgia was viewed as a big deal in the eyes of the committee, and even with some close losses to LSU and Kentucky, recent performance seems to carry a lot of weight, especially since those early losses were decided by a total of six points.

One media member asked about Tennessee who is among three other SEC teams with an 8-2 overall record (Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama). Tennessee (No. 11) came ranked last among those four programs, and Manuel seemed to indicate that the decision came down to head-to-head matchups as well as recent trends on the field.

Ole Miss beat Georgia, Alabama beat Georgia, Tennessee beat Alabama, and Georgia beat Tennessee. Still, the situation is ever-evolving.

"You're talking about four really good teams, when you look at Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee," Manuel said. "I think the committee, we debated it, as I said earlier, quite a bit as it came down to how we saw those teams. But they have beaten each other at different times.

"So we have to look at Alabama the last three games, particularly the two before they played Mercer, they won in dominant fashion, and we were really impressed with their win at LSU two weeks ago. It is close. There's a lot of conversations. We'll continue to monitor the performance of all these teams as the season progresses towards the end."

That means Ole Miss' work is far from over, but it's currently in good shape. The Rebels have two more regular season games to play before learning its postseason destination, the first of which will come this weekend at Florida.

Kickoff between the Rebels and Gators is set for 11 a.m. CT, and the game will be televised on ABC.