Rece Davis explains why Ole Miss in 2025 is different than Florida State missing CFP in 2023

Among the criteria used by the College Football Playoff selection committee, it can change a team’s seeding or eligibility for the field based on “relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches.” That said, with this having happened before, Rece Davis made the case that this factor doesn’t affect Ole Miss as far as the College Football Playoff.

Davis explained that on the ‘College GameDay Podcast,’ discussing the departure of Lane Kiffin to LSU and how that would impact Ole Miss’ seeding for the CFP. He looked back at the most notable other example to make that point, which was when an undefeated conference champion in Florida State.

The Seminoles missed the playoff in 2023 due to the season-ending injury to Jordan Travis. However, while the Seminoles played two more games after that in hurting their case, the Rebels have none, as Davis says the committee has no way of knowing how much of an effect it’ll have on them to not have Kiffin.

“This is different from Florida State. We saw Florida State without Jordan Travis, and it wasn’t playoff-worthy. I’m sorry to stoke that up again. We haven’t seen Ole Miss,” Davis said. “If Ole Miss had two games where they couldn’t get a first down, you know, and Lane left before the SEC Championship, had they made it? Okay. I’m good with it then. Now, it seems like a little – it seems a bridge too far in terms of speculation for me with the playoff.”

After Travis got hurt in the penultimate game of the regular season against North Alabama, Florida State won games over Florida with Tate Rodemaker and then Louisville in the ACC Championship with Brock Glenn. But, even at 13-0 as champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Alabama made the field instead.

Now, this season, with Kiffin having left Oxford for Baton Rouge, the committee could have considered that in where it most recently ranked Ole Miss. Instead, with a win in the Egg Bowl having the Rebels at 11-1, they actually moved up a spot this week to No. 6.

If this had happened earlier in the year, or if they were playing tomorrow in the conference championship, there may have been those extra data points needed to determine if Ole Miss should have still been in the field after what happened with Kiffin. Instead, without it, there’s no way of knowing what they’ll be without him until they take the field in the playoff, a benefit of the doubt for the Rebels.

“It’s in the criteria,” Davis said. “I mean, now, Hunter Yurachek said initially to me that they wouldn’t have a data point to evaluate, but then later in the conference call with more reporters, he backed off of that to a degree to – the short answer is, yes, I think so. I think they will. But, I mean, I do think you kind of have to wait and see. I’m not advocating for it. I hope they don’t do it. I hope they ranked them based on what’s happened.”