Breaking:2025 defensive lineman, has announced his recruitment date Ole miss and shuts down commitment ole miss

rivalry weekend began. Then, after Miami lost its grip on a College Football Playoff spot, so many coaches, players and pundits crammed into the spin room that surely some fire code is being broken.

We wouldn’t be having this debate if enough teams built their case on the field, but we knew playoff expansion risked watering down the bracket, so we’re left with a handful of teams with flawed résumés arguing for the final spot in a 12-team playoff.

No coach works the spin room more vociferously than Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin. He turned his social media feed into a running pitch for his 9-3 Rebels, and he fired a direct shot at South Carolina, another 9-3 team under consideration.

“It wasn’t even close,” Kiffin said Sunday, in reference to his team’s 27-3 win on Oct. 5 at South Carolina.

“We could still be playing the game, (and) they still might not have scored a touchdown.”

Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin stands on the field before his team’s game against Kentucky at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Sept. 28, 2024 in Oxford, Mississippi.

Direct hit from the spin room!

OK, but what of Alabama, another 9-3 SEC team?

The committee ranked Alabama ahead of Ole Miss last week. Both teams won rivalry games against bad opponents by two touchdowns last weekend. That suggests Alabama, at least, blocks Ole Miss’ path, but should it?

Let’s unpack this.

Bubble watch: Alabama, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Miami

Four teams populate the debate for the final playoff spot: Alabama, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Miami.

A fifth team, SMU, would join the mix if Clemson beats the Mustangs in the ACC championship. For the sake of this exercise, assume SMU wins the ACC and eliminates the Tigers.

CFP bracket debate depends on what committee values most

How you rank this quartet of bubble teams depends on how you value playoff credentials:

∎ Fewest losses earns the bid?

If you favor the loss-counting contest, then Miami qualifies over three-loss SEC teams, but here’s where I struggle with the Hurricanes: Miami’s résumé ranks worse than that of Brigham Young, another two-loss that placed third in the Big 12.

The committee consistently undervalued BYU, to the point that the Cougars aren’t in the playoff conversation. This despite BYU beating the ACC’s best team, SMU, on the road and owning a better strength of schedule than Miami.

In the fewest-loss metric, BYU should earn the bid, but the committee shows no interest in that.

∎ Team with best wins earns the bid?

Alabama owns the best collection of victories, counting pelts against three ranked teams – Georgia, South Carolina and Missouri – plus a trouncing of LSU in Tiger Stadium.

Ole Miss also beat Georgia and blew out South Carolina. It lacks a third signature triumph.

South Carolina headlines its résumé with wins against Clemson, Missouri and Texas A&M.

Miami lags behind in this category, with best wins against Duke, Louisville and Florida.

In the best collection of wins metric, Alabama should earn the bid.

∎ Reward the hot hand?