Four two-loss Southeastern Conference teams are packed into a five-team logjam in the latest College Football Playoff projections released Tuesday.
No. 9 Ole Miss is one of those teams and Rebels coach Lane Kiffin is among the coaches that have figured this part out: It’s better to not be part of the SEC title game than lose in it and miss the 12-team playoff field.
But first, Ole Miss (8-2, 4-2 SEC) attempts to bolster its positioning when it visits Florida (5-5, 3-4) on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla.
A Rebels’ victory keeps the team in the SEC championship game mix. Also entering the weekend with two losses are SEC foes No. 7 Alabama, No. 10 Georgia and No. 11 Tennessee. No. 3 Texas has lost just once.
The winner of the SEC title game gets a first-round bye. But that’s not the part that concerns Kiffin.
“You know, the reward to get a bye versus the risk to get knocked out completely, I mean, that’s a really big risk just to get a bye,” Kiffin said. “So I think it’s ended up being a very unique situation of all postseason sports. The way that system is set up there and how you could go to (the SEC championship game) and get knocked out (of the CFP race). If you don’t go, you’re in.”
Ole Miss has won three straight games, including a solid 28-10 home victory over Georgia on Nov. 9. The Rebels had a bye last weekend.
Rebels star quarterback Jaxson Dart has thrown for 3,409 yards, 22 touchdowns and just four interceptions this season. He’s also expected to have top target Tre Harris back in the fold.
Harris missed the past three games due to a back injury. He has accumulated 59 receptions for 987 yards and six scores.
“Really excited to get the best receiver in the country back,” Kiffin said of Harris.
Jordan Watkins, who has caught a team-best seven touchdown passes, says every contest is in a playoff game for the Rebels.
“If we lose, we’re not in playoff contention, so knowing that, we have to win in every game from here on out,” Watkins said. “You can see that as far as how well we’re playing.”
The Rebels close the regular season at home against Mississippi State on Nov. 29.
Florida is coming off a 27-16 home upset of then-No. 21 LSU.
Freshman quarterback DJ Lagway returned from a one-game absence due to a hamstring injury and passed for 226 yards and one touchdown. He then proclaimed the Gators are about to return to their former championship-level past under coaches such as Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer.
“Just having the guys rally behind that and truly like we’re going to change this,” Lagway said. “And that’s the whole vibe in the locker room, that we’re going to change this place and we’re going to make it what it used to be.”
Grand ambitions or not, Florida faces a stern test with the Rebels.
“Ole Miss has got playmakers on offense, obviously a veteran quarterback, and then defensively, they’ve got some disruptive players up front,” Gators coach Billy Napier said. “… They’re in position to (make the playoffs). They’ve had a good year. So I think this is a good football team, a ranked opponent, and we’re excited about the challenge.”
Florida will look to pressure Dart and it feels better about the prospects after recording seven sacks against LSU. Linebacker Shemar James had two.
Then-No. 3 Ole Miss didn’t fare well in its last visit to Gainesville, getting routed 38-10 in 2015.
The last overall meeting was in 2020 when Florida prevailed 51-35 at Oxford, Miss.
