Back in Top 10: Ole Miss has pair of dangerous games ahead

OXFORD, Miss. — Maybe the biggest news starting Florida Week is not that Ole Miss is back in the Top 10 in the media and coaches polls. Saturday’s game against the Gators starts the playoffs run.

“(Florida) is another must-win playoff game,” Rebels coach Lane Kiffin said last week. “We want to play it really well against these guys. They have really good players, and at times they’ve played well. It’s a place that most times people struggle to play in.”

Never mind the polls that came out Sunday with Ole Miss at No. 9. Somehow, Georgia’s win over Tennessee moved them up to No. 8 just a week after the Rebels dominated them here, 28-10. Apparently, last week has nothing to do with this week’s rankings.

You can put that one squarely on the 20-17 loss to Kentucky earlier in the year. The Bulldogs’ only league losses have been to Alabama and Ole Miss, both ranked teams. That one play could keep costing the Rebels, who do have the opportunity, though, to overcome that by continuing to win.

Oregon is still on top with Ohio State settling in at No. 2. That will likely work itself out in the Big Ten title game the first weekend in December. Both of those teams will be in the College Football Playoff.

The Rebels will, too, if they can handle Florida this week and win the Egg Bowl over Mississippi State the week after. We’ll see how the committee ranks Ole Miss on Tuesday night, but they could move up because the Vols lost and BYU got way too much help from officials’ calls to avoid dropping to unranked Utah this week.

The playoff picture is almost impossible to handicap, but the polls usually give a little indication and that is the Rebels could move from No. 11 up a little higher.

The SEC has Texas (3), Alabama (7) and Georgia (8) ranked ahead of them in the polls, but with the Longhorns and Crimson Tide likely to meet in the SEC Championship Game, one of them could drop down below Ole Miss. All of that is left to be determined over these final few weeks. The Rebels don’t have much of a prayer of being in that game.