If Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss for another job before playoff, his absence 'could be considered' by CFP selection committee

The College Football Playoff selection committee is leaving the door open to adjusting Ole Miss’ final ranking if Lane Kiffin leaves for another job.

Amid interest from Florida and LSU, Ole Miss has said that an announcement on Kiffin’s future will be made on Saturday, a day after the 10-1 Rebels play at Mississippi State. Ole Miss was ranked No. 7 in Tuesday night’s rankings after being jumped by Oregon but is still in line to play a home game in the first round of the playoffs with a win over the Bulldogs.

But could Ole Miss lose that home game if Kiffin says he’s leaving for either Baton Rouge or Gainesville? Maybe. Though CFP selection committee chair and Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek didn’t want to get into hypotheticals, he reiterated that the committee can factor in the absence of a coach when making its rankings.

“We’ll take care of that when it happens,” Yurachek said on a media teleconference. “I mean, we don’t look ahead. It is the loss of a player, loss of a key coach is in the principles of how we rank the teams.”

“But again, we don’t have a data point for Ole Miss without their head coach.”

When pressed if Ole Miss could or would be penalized without Kiffin, Yurachek simply said that “it could be considered by the committee.”

The committee infamously dropped undefeated Florida State from the final four-team playoff in 2023 after the loss of starting QB Jordan Travis in the penultimate game of the regular season. Florida State’s offense scuffled without Travis in wins over Florida and Louisville and was dropped from the top four after winning the ACC title.

Kiffin’s situation wouldn’t be similar. It’s unlikely that Ole Miss will play for the SEC championship even if it finishes 11-1. Friday’s game will probably be the last game the team plays before the playoff. If Kiffin leaves and is replaced by an interim coach, the team will be fundamentally different given the way he’s built the roster and his role in the offensive scheme.

Yet unlike FSU, the committee wouldn’t have any evidence to explain why they should or shouldn’t drop Ole Miss in the rankings. And how they do or don't make those adjustments if Kiffin says he's leaving for a different job this week will be one of the committee's biggest decisions since the playoff's inception in 2014.