Despite CFP Snub, Lane Kiffin Earns Kudos for Ole Miss’ Solo Advocacy in Justice Campaign Against Unfair Favoritism

The latest set of CFP rankings left teams offended like anything. The most targeted team to receive the flakes was Alabama for seizing a No. 11 spot ahead of the Miami Hurricanes, and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin couldn’t make the wrath more obvious in his recent Twitter rant. He blatantly put the committee on notice, asking them if they really watch the quality of players, teams, and road environments while listing them as per their worth in the conference. CFP chairperson Warde Manuel had a clear answer to the Miami fans who demanded a rank higher than the Tide; he left numb to address Kiffin’s grievances.

Manuel, in a post-CFP release press meet, made it clear that despite having the same number of losses, Alabama has a better body of work and a better schedule strength than the Canes and, hence, a higher spot in the CFP follows. But the Rebels also hold the same record as Alabama and South Carolina and still sit 14 in the bracket. Backing them up with the playoff quest, David Pollack noted, ‘‘With their defensive line and their ability to disrupt games, Jackson Dart and a healthy Tre Harris if you’re asking me who I wouldn’t want to play of all of those I absolutely would not want to play Ole Miss the most like I’m just telling you that’s who I would pick.”

Pollack also downplayed the Rebels’ Florida loss and Kentucky loss, noting that other teams had more inferior losses under their belt. Chiming in the context, co-host Brent Rollins gave Lane Kiffin his flower. ”Lane very much has done a very good job of using Twitter or X, however you want to term it, to make his case,” said Rollins.

Kiffin accused the committee of brand bias in a bombastic claim even before Bama got a hyped ranking on the list. He forecasted the Rebels’ downturn and noted, ”Clearly, Ole Miss should be in the playoff over Alabama, but Bama is the bigger brand and more than likely will get in over Ole Miss,” 

But despite all the rants and the endorsement, he can’t skip some heavy setbacks, including the one against LSU that instantly made the hashtag ‘fire Kiffin’ trending on Twitter. But Pollack has always been a steadfast rock to have his back. The veteran analyst silenced the critics in the past, referencing the Rebels’ dominating win against Georgia. However, Joel Klatt and a few other analysts had some solid pointers to counter.

Lane Kiffin earned zero sympathy from other CFB analysts 

When Manuel noted only the SEC championship teams could have a case to change their rank further in the table, it came off as a harsh reality check for all the teams who were left outside the SEC week. Kiffin, as a spokesperson to all those teams, questioned the validation of the SEC championship. NFL great Roman Harper slammed him for the same. In an outright discussion, Harper called the veteran coach out, saying the only reason Lane Kiffin disregarded the worth of an SEC Championship game was that his team couldn’t get into it. He lambasted every other coach who sat and complained about the injustice instead of just playing and snatching their shot.

FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt also put Kiffin and Ole Miss on notice, claiming that their loss to Kentucky was the ultimate resume bruiser. ”That’s where all of a sudden, separation occurs. You get separation from the common opponent. You get separation in the depth of their worst loss,” said Klatt, shutting down his grievance over Alabama’s schedule strength.

It will be intriguing to see how Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin bounce back the next season and make their claims valid with a breakout performance.