The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released its first Top 25 rankings on Tuesday, Nov. 4 on ESPN. The committee ranked Ole Miss No. 6 in this initial bracket — one spot above their position in the AP Poll, which has the Rebels at No. 7.
In this bracket, Ole Miss would face off against the Virginia Cavaliers, the projected ACC champion, in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in the first round of the College Football Playoffs.
Ole Miss (8-1, 5-1 SEC) would host Virginia (8-1, 5-0 ACC), whose loss came against NC State 35-31. Like Ole Miss, the Cavaliers had a narrow victory over Washington State. The winner of Ole Miss and Virginia would play No. 3 Texas A&M in this projected bracket.
The five highest ranked conference champions — all four Power 4 conference champions and the highest ranked Group of 5 champion — qualify and the remaining seven spots in the playoff are at-large bids. The Top 4 teams have a first round bye. This is a change from last year’s model that had the four highest conference champions receiving a bye.
As of now, Virginia’s entry into the playoffs is based on their projected likelihood of winning the ACC championship. If the Cavaliers lose that game, or fail to make it altogether, they could miss the playoffs entirely. Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh or Louisville are other teams at the top of the ACC who could win the conference.
Ole Miss, on the other hand, would make this bracket as an at-large bid. As long as they take care of business in their final three games and finish the season either 11-1 or potentially 10-2, the Rebels should be in the playoffs; they do not need to win the SEC Championship to qualify.
“We just need to win out, and then we get a good spot for the playoffs,” sophomore psychology major Taylor Williams said.
Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M and Alabama were the Top 4 seeds. No. 11 Texas and No. 12 Oklahoma were the first teams out of the playoffs, bumped out by Virginia (projected ACC champion) and Memphis (top Group of 5 team), who currently is not ranked in the Top 25.
“Yeah, I think it’s always part of the discussion when we’re talking about wins and losses, that’s extremely important,” CFP Selection Committee Chairman and Baylor Athletic Director Mack Rhoades said during the selection show. “But again, we have a variety of tools at our disposal, and so not one is weighted more than the other. We’re sitting here. We’re looking at head-to-head. We’re looking at common opponents. We’re looking at schedule strength. We’re looking at record strength. We’re looking at all of the analytics.”
The first round of the playoffs will begin with one game on Friday, Dec. 19. The remaining three games are all on Saturday, Dec. 20, beginning at noon. Teams with better seeding, including Ole Miss as of now, would host first round games on their respective campuses.
The prospect of hosting a playoff game is exciting for many Ole Miss students.
“I think it’s gonna be real packed down here. When’s the last time Oxford hosted a playoff game?” junior exercise science major Jalon Townes said.
Quarterfinal games will begin on Wednesday, Dec. 31 and end on New Years Day. Those games include the Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl.
The semifinals, the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl, are on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, respectively. The National Championship is on Monday, Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will release its Top 25 every Tuesday until the end of the season. The final rankings will determine the playoff order and will be released on Sunday, Dec. 7.
