'Ridiculous!' Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin Sounds Off On 'Stupid' Decision in CFP Rankings

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin is not a fan of how part of this week's CFP Rankings were arranged.

Nov 9, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin watches during warm ups prior to the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels came in at No. 14 in this week's College Football Playoff Rankings. Maybe that's a well-deserved spot after suffering three losses this season, but head coach Lane Kiffin took umbrage with some of the squads ranked above his team entering rivalry week.

In the immediate vicinity surrounding the Rebels are No. 12 Clemson and No. 13 Alabama. Clemson is a two-loss team that competes in the ACC and suffered lopsided defeats to Georgia and Louisville. Meanwhile, Alabama and Ole Miss are three-loss SEC teams who both have a win over the Georgia Bulldogs.

Which of these resumes should be ranked higher? For Kiffin, it's a no-brainer that was illustrated by his comments on this week's edition of the radio show "Reb Talk."

"We need to play really well, first off [vs. Mississippi State]," Kiffin said on Wednesday. "That's what's in our control, and other things to happen. I'm not saying because of us, but it's ridiculous the difference between playing in the SEC and the ACC and Big 12 and see these rankings.

"I'm not even doing the Ole Miss homer thing. You're talking about like Clemson's schedule and who they've played over Alabama. It's stupid. Take some of those teams that are up there who haven't played anybody and put them in the SEC, they're .500 teams."

Perhaps Kiffin has a legitimate argument. According to ESPN, Alabama has the 11th-toughest schedule in college football this season. Ole Miss is at 27th while Clemson is at 57th.

Still, the Rebels have had plenty of opportunities to solidify a spot in the College Football Playoff field and have thus far failed to do so. Losses to Kentucky, LSU and (most recently) Florida have made Ole Miss' path to the playoff a slim one at best, likely meaning that it would have to dominate Mississippi State on Friday and hope for chaos in the ranking spots in the Top 12.

CFP Selection Committee chair Warde Manuel gave his group's reasoning of putting Clemson in the 12th spot of this week's rankings on Thursday.

"Well, Clemson slid up with some losses ahead of them by Alabama and Mississippi, and they had a win against Citadel, obviously, but that wasn't the big reason," Manuel said.

"Obviously they're at 9-2, with only two losses. The teams right behind them have three losses. We just felt as a committee as we looked at their body of work, with three straight wins after their loss to Louisville, including back-to-back wins against Virginia Tech and Pitt, that they deserved to move up into that 12th position."

Again, it probably wouldn't be at this point had Ole Miss taken care of business against Florida, LSU or Kentucky, but strength of schedule is a compelling argument that the committee will have to consider in the final weeks of the season.

For now, the Rebels have to focus on their in-state rival Bulldogs. Kickoff on Friday between Ole Miss and Mississippi State is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, and the game will be televised on ABC.