Ole Miss AD Keith Carter fires back at Chris Fallica for claiming holes in Rebels' College Football Playoff resume

Lane Kiffin has been gone from Ole Miss for less than 24 hours and already the Rebels are having to play defense. Questions about how the College Football Playoff committee will treat Kiffin’s departure abound.

One prominent media personality suggested the committee might have to take a long, hard look at the Rebels given the circumstances. He laid out some reasons.

“Ole Miss and its 7th rated offense efficiency-wise, will not have its head coach, its OC, its Co-OC and WR coach for whatever is next,” wrote FOX Sports’ Chris Fallica on Twitter. “The new HC is the DC of the lowest-rated defense efficiency-wise (52nd) of a CFP contender. Seems like something the committee has to address.”

Ole Miss struck back quickly. Athletics director Keith Carter weighed in.

“Click bait,” he wrote. “11-1 in the SEC pal. [Ole Miss football’s] ready to roll!”

Regardless, the question is a valid one. Will the committee penalize Ole Miss for no longer having its head coach or a few key assistants?

It’s a question the committee itself had already been pressed on prior to Kiffin’s departure. It wasn’t exactly a secret that the Ole Miss head man was potentially looking to make a move to another program.

The committee chairman, Hunter Yurachek, was coy when asked the question last week. But he did answer it.

“We’ll take care of that when it happens,” Yurachek said. “We don’t look ahead. The loss of a player, the 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.”

Yurachek did note that the departure of Kiffin would be “considered” by the committee. Well, now it has happened.

Meanwhile, On3’s Brett McMurphy reported that a spokesman in Las Vegas said it would reduce Ole Miss’ power rating between two to four points without Kiffin. The College Football Playoff committee may have a similar metric adjustment in mind.