Paul Finebaum, Heather Dinich address how Lane Kiffin situation could impact Ole Miss in CFP, compare to FSU with Jordan Travis

Two years ago, the College Football Playoff was rocked by controversy after undefeated ACC champion Florida State fell out of the Top 4 following a season-ending injury to star quarterback Jordan Travis in the final weekend of the 2023 regular season. In its place, a one-loss SEC champion Alabama was awarded the pivotal fourth and final Playoff spot after knocking off a previously undefeated Georgia in Atlanta the next week.

At the time, the CFP cited a little known rule that allows its selection committee to take into account the loss of a star player or coach when ranking teams. And while the FSU controversy helped facilitate the move to expand the Playoff from four to its current 12-team field, that rarely-used rule could once again come into play with the 2025 College Football Playoff, only this time it won’t be because of injury.

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, who is being heavily courted by both Florida and LSU while at the same time leading the 10-1 Rebels to the verge of the program’s first-ever Playoff appearance, is expected to announce whether he’s staying in Oxford or leaving for Gainesville or Baton Rouge on Saturday, one day after the Egg Bowl rivalry game vs. Mississippi State. That single decision will undoubtedly have wide-ranging implications on multiple programs, but most immediately, it could potentially impact Ole Miss’ potential Playoff seeding.

If Kiffin ultimately choses to leave Ole Miss for either Florida or LSU, the Playoff committee could take his absence into account when formulating the 12-team field — even if the one-loss Rebels beat the Bulldogs on Friday night. On3’s Chris Low suggested as much in a column last week, and ESPN’s Paul Finebaum and Heather Dinich revived those concerns Sunday morning on SportsCenter.

Heather Dinich: ‘Ole Miss without Lane Kiffin is not going to fall out of the College Football Playoff’

“As impressive as Oregon was (Saturday in a Top 15 win vs. USC), Ole Miss still got all the attention off the field because of Lane Kiffin,” Finebaum said. “I realize that should not have anything to do with what the committee will do, but I am very interested, as is everybody else, if Ole Miss starts getting discounted a little bit because of the possibility that Lane Kiffin may not be there after this Friday.

“Totally off the wall in terms of what the CFP committee should be doing, but they’ve been off the wall pretty much all year anyways.”

At this point, Dinich — ESPN’s CFP expert — clarified that the Playoff committee could ultimately dock Ole Miss “a spot or two” in the 12-team field depending on Kiffin’s decision, though it’s unlikely the committee would completely remove the Rebels like it did Florida State two years ago.

“This would be compared to (what happened with) Jordan Travis and Florida State. Just like if your quarterback is injured and not going to play going into the College Football Playoff,” Dinich explained. “Ole Miss without Lane Kiffin is not going to fall out of the College Football Playoff. Might they drop a spot or two because they don’t have their head coach? Yes, that’s possible. The best comparison is to go back to what happened with Florida State. But (that) was only a four-team Playoff. There are 12 teams in this spot, they’re not going to fall out without Lane Kiffin.”