Ole Miss is on the outside of the current projected 12-team College Football Playoff bracket at No. 14 in the latest set of rankings, and head coach Lane Kiffin isn’t happy about the entire situation.
During a Wednesday appearance on his radio show (h/t On3), he targeted the ACC and Big 12 when airing out his frustration.
“It’s ridiculous, the difference of playing in the SEC and the ACC and Big 12,” he said. “… To think that you’re looking at schools and you’re talking about, like, Clemson’s schedule and who they played over Alabama. It’s stupid. I’m not gonna name them. Take some of those teams that are up there that haven’t played anybody and put them down in the SEC, they’re .500 teams.”
The thing about these types of discussions is they rely somewhat on hypotheticals and assumptions that teams like Ole Miss would fare better against ACC or Big 12 competition.
Well, the Big 12 had some fun with the idea of hypotheticals when former Alabama head coach Nick Saban raised similar ideas:
Kiffin’s frustration comes after a brutal Saturday for the SEC with losses from his own team and the Alabama squad he mentioned.
The Rebels lost to 6-5 Florida, while the Crimson Tide didn’t even score a touchdown in a 24-3 loss to a 6-5 Oklahoma squad that hadn’t beaten an FBS opponent since September. That wasn’t all, as Texas A&M lost in four overtimes to a 5-6 Auburn team that isn’t even bowl eligible yet.
Alabama (13) and Ole Miss (14) are behind Miami (6), SMU (9) and Clemson (12) from the ACC, although no Big 12 team is ahead of them.
As for strength of schedule, Ole Miss checks in at No. 27, per ESPN. That is better than the highest-ranked Big 12 team of Kansas at No. 39, although Florida State (10), Stanford (14), Louisville (18) and Virginia (24) from the ACC are all ahead of Kiffin’s team.
Ultimately, the Rebels would still be in fine position if they had simply beaten one of 6-5 Florida, 4-7 Kentucky or 7-4 LSU. But they didn’t, and now they need some help to make the CFP.
