No. 14-ranked Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has stated several times that he thinks his team should have qualified for the college football playoff. He cited strength of schedule as a key reason his team deserved a spot over others with fewer losses this season.
So, it came as no surprise to see him hop on X after the results of the first-round matchup between the No. 5-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish and No. 8-ranked Indiana Hoosiers on Friday. The Fighting Irish won the game 27-17 in dominating fashion, taking the lead early and never letting go. Kiffin had this to say on Twitter:
"Really exciting competitive game. Great job!!"
In response, college football Aaron Torres quote tweeted Lane Kiffin with his own opinion on the matter. He called out the Rebels for losing to Kentucky despite being a huge favorite.
"Imagine losing at home to Kentucky, watching Kentucky not win another SEC game all year and tweeting this out. Lane Kiffin whining about not being in the playoff is significantly more embarrassing than anything Indiana did tonight."
Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels narrowly miss out on a playoff spot
Ever since the college football playoff field was announced, Lane Kiffin has expressed his frustration in his Rebels not being selected. He has stated that he believes that SEC teams should be favored to make the playoffs because of their difficult strength of schedule. The SEC is the strongest conference in college football, and as a result, the teams in it have the toughest schedules.
However, the strength of the schedule argument is not a strong one for the Rebels. They only played two opponents that were in the AP Top 25 Poll at the end of the season. They defeated the No. 15-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks 27-3 on Oct. 5 and lost to the No. 2-ranked Georgia Bulldogs on Nov. 9.
Conversely, the Indiana Hoosiers only played one top 25-ranked opponent, losing 38-15 to No. 6-ranked Ohio State on Nov. 23.
However, the difference between these teams is Indiana did not lose another game before its college football playoff matchup. Ole Miss, on the other hand, lost two games to unranked opponents. It lost 20-17 to a Kentucky team on Sep. 28 that did not beat another SEC game all season. The Rebels also lost 24-17 to Florida on Nov. 23 when they needed a win to stay in the playoff mix.
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