Hunter Yurachek reveals how potential Lane Kiffin departure impacts College Football Playoff, makes '6-7' joke
As Week 14 gets underway, all eyes are on Lane Kiffin for multiple reasons. He is not only at the center of multiple head coaching rumors, but also has Ole Miss in strong position for the College Football Playoff entering the Egg Bowl.
On3’s Chris Low reported the Rebels’ ranking could be impacted if Kiffin leaves, presumably for either LSU or Florida. Speaking with ESPN’s Rece Davis during Tuesday’s CFP rankings reveal show, selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek addressed that – but not before making a “6-7” joke since Ole Miss is at No. 7 after falling behind No. 6 Oregon.
From there, Yurachek said the idea of Kiffin leaving Ole Miss was not part of the consideration to put Oregon ahead of Ole Miss. Instead, the committee saw the Ducks pick up a marquee victory over USC, which helped put them over the top.
“Seriously, we didn’t have any discussion about Ole Miss and their coach,” Yurachek said. “That was all about Oregon and their performance against USC. Their strength of schedule continues to climb. They’ve been dominant on the offense and defensive side of the ball. Really good in special teams. The committee had been waiting for them to have a signature win to really put them where we thought they deserved to be.”
When pressed further about the impact of Kiffin’s potential departure, Yurachek then said the committee does not have a data point right now to discuss the possibility of a team playing without its head coach. While it is in the CFP’s protocol, he said that’s not part of the evaluation right now because the committee has not seen Ole Miss play without Kiffin at the helm.
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“It is in the protocol,” Yurachek said on the show. “But I’m not sure we will have a data point to use that as part of the protocol.”
Should Lane Kiffin leave Ole Miss, it would not be the first time the College Football Playoff committee faced a question about a coach’s departure. It happened in 2021 when Brian Kelly left Notre Dame to take over at LSU while the Irish were still in the running for the then-four team CFP field. They then came in at No. 5 with an 11-1 record.
For now, all eyes are on Friday’s Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Kickoff for that game is set for noon ET on ABC.