After Georgia wins SEC title, Ole Miss’ playoff claim has more merit

OXFORD, Miss. — While it probably won’t matter, I can’t wait to hear to verbal cul-de-sac we’ll hear from the College Football Playoff committee if Ole Miss doesn’t make the 12-team field.

The Rebels aren’t expected to have a chance to play for a national title. The reasons may be interesting, though. Somehow, my guess is it won’t be that loss to Kentucky back in September a lot of folks think. Even with that setback, it will be the 24-17 loss to Florida that is used. Memories will be fresher and the committee is actually paying closer attention to games played in November.

The Rebels still have a solid case for their argument, though. A 28-10 win over Georgia proves that. Especially after the Bulldogs had to go to overtime for a 22-19 upset win over Texas. That’s if you want to consider the team that game an upset.

The Longhorns had the same problem Ole Miss had on several occasions this year with too many penalties killing momentum. Plus, anybody sitting on the fence about Quinn Ewers being a better quarterback than Jaxson Dart for first team All-SEC probably should land on the Rebels’ quarterback now. When he needed to make plays, Ewers couldn’t.

Even freshman Arch Manning, the son of former Rebel Cooper Manning and Archie’s grandson, played a few snaps, but primarily as a runner. Or running threat. They didn’t let him look like he was going to throw a pass. When they think about it later, they might re-consider it.

In any event, the Longhorns and Bulldogs both will be in the playoff field when it’s announced Sunday morning at 11 a.m. on ESPN. You’ll note the timing puts it as a lead-in to the noon NFL kickoffs, which will add attention to it. That’s when Rebels fans will find out where their bowl game will be played.

Ole Miss will be discussed, but probably as one of the first four not in the playoff field. Alabama will probably be the three-loss team that gets selected to the field. While the Crimson Tide also beat Georgia, they didn’t dominate the game like the Rebels did.

But Alabama did get dominated, 24-3, by Oklahoma, of all people just a couple of weeks ago. Even not playing the Crimson Tide on the field for the first time in decades, the Tide still will probably find a way to one-up Ole Miss. That has happened before, even when the Rebels beat them in the regular season.

None of that helps, though. Just don’t expect anything too surprising.