Ole Miss Makes Top 10 In College Football Playoffs
Lane Kiffin has a chance to make history on Thursday night. He'll have some added pressure with the latest College Football Playoff rankings.
Ole Miss (9-2, 5-2 SEC) moved up from No. 12 to No. 9 in Tuesday's official ranking of the CFP poll. The Rebels will face off against in-state rival Mississippi State in the annual Egg Bowl at Wade Davis Stadium.
Hugh Freeze and Dan Mullen made the Egg Bowl a bitter rival between the two programs. Mike Leach and Kiffin are built different, hopeful to bring the state closer together during the holidays.
"Someone said the other day (Leach and I) kind of don't make sense to be here," Kiffin said. "We get along. Maybe we were brought here to bring a state together. It's football. You really shouldn't hate people just because they went to a certain school."
The Rebels are coming off what could only be described as an underwhelming 31-17 win over Vanderbilt. Quarterback Matt Corral only found the end zone twice through the air, but did manage to throw for over 300 yards (382) for only the second time since Week 3.
Corral said postgame that the Rebels' locker room understands that performances like that won't suffice against a team like the Bulldogs (7-4, 4-3 SEC), especially when playing away from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
"If we play like that against Mississippi State, we're going to get blown out," Corral said. "That's just the reality of it."
Should Ole Miss walk away victorious, it would mark the first 10-win regular season in program history. Kiffin, who currently is at the plight of head coaching rumors, would improve to 15-7 all-time in Oxford since being hired from Florida Atlantic in 2019.
A win likely also would solidify Ole Miss' chance to make a New Year's Six Bowl come next month. Should the Rebels lose, they would likely need No. 2 Alabama to win the SEC Championship to strengthen its chances to represent the SEC at the Sugar Bowl against the Big 12 champion.
Ole Miss was one of six teams from the SEC represented in the CFP rankings. The Bulldogs remained at No. 1, and Alabama moved to No. 3, respectively after wins on Saturday, while the Rebels move into the top 10 for the first time this season. Texas A&M, who picked up a dominant 53-2 win over Prairie View A&M, improves to No. 15.
Arkansas, which fell short of upsetting Alabama in Tuscaloosa, remains in the poll at No. 25
Kick off Thursday at Wade Davis Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m.
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