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Tag: Mississippi Rebels

  • College football rankings start juggling act at 6-7, while top 5 remain the same

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    The College Football Playoff rankings placed the spotlight on, where else this year, “6-7″ — flip-flopping Oregon and Ole Miss in those spots while keeping their top five teams the same in Tuesday night’s reveal.

    Oregon’s impressive victory over Southern California in one of last week’s few games between ranked teams accounted for the biggest change, moving the Ducks ahead of Mississippi, which didn’t play.

    The other meaningful shift was Miami’s move to No. 12, in a switch with Utah after the Utes gave up 472 yards rushing in a tight win over Kansas State.

    There are two more rankings to be revealed — next Tuesday, then Dec. 7 when the final top 25 will set the bracket for the 12-team playoff to start Dec. 19,

    Pitt’s return to the rankings — at No. 22 — after falling out for a week impacts the meaning of its key Atlantic Coast Conference game this week against the Hurricanes, who need a win and some help to make the conference title game but still have hopes of grabbing one of the playoff’s seven at-large berths.

    “Miami is a team that it really appears is starting to look like the Miami team that started 5-0,” said Hunter Yurachek, the chair of the selection committee.

    Following the Buckeyes for the fourth time in four rankings were fellow undefeated teams Indiana and Texas A&M. Georgia stayed at No. 4, followed by Texas Tech. After Oregon and Mississippi came Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Alabama and BYU at No. 11 and first team out on this week’s proverbial bubble.

    Ohio State and Indiana will play in what should be a 1 vs. 2 Big Ten title game if both win rivalry showdowns on the road over Thanksgiving weekend. Ohio State’s task is more difficult — against Michigan, which moved up three spots to No. 15. Indiana plays Purdue.

    No. 10 Alabama plays at Auburn with a spot in the Southeastern Conference title game on the line. The Tide’s opponent would be Texas A&M if the Aggies win at No. 16 Texas.

    Notre Dame and Miami were compared this week

    After some confusion last week about the weight given to Miami’s opening-week win over Notre Dame, Yurachek said those teams were, indeed, close enough in the rankings this week to be compared head-to-head. But still, that victory was not enough to push the Hurricanes past Notre Dame.

    “We compare a number of things when looking at teams closely ranked together,” Yurachek said. “We’ve got some teams ranked between Miami and Notre Dame, such as Alabama and BYU, who we’re also comparing Miami to.”

    Could Kiffin’s job status impact Ole Miss?

    Among the factors the committee can consider is the availability of players and coaches, which has potential to bring Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s job status into play.

    Word from Oxford is that a decision will come on Kiffin’s potential move to LSU or Florida after this week’s game against Mississippi State. An Ole Miss team without one of the most sought-after coaches in the game wouldn’t seem as good as one with him.

    Still, Yurachek wouldn’t tip his hand on how that evaluation might go.

    “We’ll take care of that when it happens,” Yurachek said. “We don’t look ahead. The loss of player, loss of a key coach, is in the principles of how we rank teams, but we don’t have a data point for how we look at Ole Miss without their coach.”

    Ducks move to ‘where they need to be’

    After Oregon’s 42-27 win over USC, coach Dan Lanning said his team deserves credit for the schedule it plays — which included a tough conference game during a week in which many in the SEC were going against non-ranked, double-digit underdogs.

    The committee agreed.

    “We’ve been waiting for them to have that signature win to really put them where they need to be,” Yurachek said.

    Conference watch

    ACC — No. 18 Virginia and No. 21 SMU are the favorites to reach the title game, which means one of them has an inside edge to be in the playoff. The Hurricanes are likely in an at-large showdown with the likes of BYU, Vanderbilt and maybe Alabama.

    Big 12 — BYU is angling for another crack at Texas Tech in the title game. Hard to see the Cougars getting there, losing to the Red Raiders again and still making the playoff.

    Big Ten — Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon are locks. Michigan’s move up three to No. 15 gives the Wolverines a chance at an at-large bid (or maybe the conference title) with a win this week over the Buckeyes.

    SEC — Texas A&M, Georgia, Mississippi and Oklahoma should all be in. Alabama can’t really afford a third loss, but what if that loss comes in the SEC title game? The Tide makes it by beating Auburn. Vanderbilt would strengthen its case with a win at No. 19 Tennessee this week.

    Group of 5 — No. 24 Tulane of the American is still the only team from a non-power conference in the rankings. One problem. BetMGM Sportsbook has North Texas as the favorite to win the league title. That, in turn, could bring someone like James Madison back into the conversation.

    Projected first-round playoff matchups

    No. 12 Tulane at No. 5 Texas Tech: Could the Red Raiders, a deep-pocketed disruptor in the college football space, also turn into one of the sport’s powerhouses?

    No. 11 Miami at No. 6 Oregon: The Mario Cristobal Bowl — Hurricanes coach left Ducks suddenly in 2021 to return home.

    No. 10 Alabama at No. 7 Mississippi: Kiffin, the old offensive coordinator at Alabama, is 0-4 vs. Tide with Ole Miss.

    No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma: Notre Dame’s first televised game was a 27-21 win over OU in 1952.

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  • Florida or LSU? Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin’s coaching decision will be revealed after the Egg Bowl

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    OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin will announce his next move — likely Florida or LSU — after the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State.

    Athletic director Keith Carter released a statement Friday saying a decision on Kiffin’s future is expected Nov. 29, the day after the fifth-ranked Rebels play their in-state rival.

    It could be an agonizing wait for the Tigers, the Gators and the Rebels, although most outsiders believe Kiffin staying in Oxford for a seventh season is a long shot.

    “Coach Kiffin and I have had many pointed and positive conversations regarding his future at Ole Miss, including meeting (Friday) with Chancellor (Glenn) Boyce,” Carter said. “While we discuss next steps, we know we cannot lose sight of what is most important — our … team is poised to finish the regular season in historic fashion.”

    Carter said Kiffin remains focused, and the announcement timeline ensures the Rebels’ players and coaches “can concentrate fully on next Friday’s game.”

    “This team is on the cusp of an unprecedented season, and it’s imperative they feel the support of the Ole Miss family in the week ahead,” he said.

    Behind Kiffin’s next landing spot, the second-biggest question is whether Kiffin would stick around — or be allowed to stay — to coach Ole Miss through a potential College Football Playoff berth.

    The Rebels’ current standing in the CFP rankings has them poised to host a first-round game if they beat the Bulldogs. The selection committee, however, would be working within its guidelines if it factored the disruption of a coaching change into a team’s final seeding.

    Ole Miss (10-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference, No. 6 CFP) does not play this weekend. The bye allowed Kiffin to meet with Florida and LSU officials.

    The Gators fired Billy Napier in mid-October and set their sights on Kiffin. LSU fired Brian Kelly a week later, creating a tug-of-war over a 50-year-old coach who is considered one of the top offensive minds in the game.

    Kiffin’s family members took scouting trips to Gainesville and Baton Rouge, and he met with administrators and fundraisers on several occasions. He even reportedly sat down with Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who publicly slammed former LSU athletic director Scott Woodward for giving Kelly a 10-year contract worth about $100 million in 2022.

    Will he stay at the place he called “utopia” and turned into a perennial winner with his ex-wife and kids nearby? Will he move back to Florida, where his father became one of the most respected defensive coordinators in NFL history? Or will he land at LSU, where three of its last four coaches won national championships.

    Kiffin politely declined to talk about job openings this week. He sidestepped several questions about ongoing overtures from Florida, LSU and Ole Miss.

    “I’m going to stay on what I’ve done for six years, which isn’t talking about other jobs and that situation,” said Kiffin, who denied reports Tuesday that Ole Miss had given him an ultimatum. “I love it here, and it’s been amazing. And we’re in the season — the greatest run in the history of Ole Miss at this point (and) having never been at this point.

    “So I think it’s really exciting. … I’m just living in the moment — it’s amazing — and our players are, too. I see their joy about practice, season, where they’re at and have so much on the line. It’s just awesome to be a part of.”

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  • CFP committee adding weight to games against strong opponents, limit reward for beating weak foes

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    The College Football Playoff selection committee announced Wednesday it will place more emphasis on strength of schedule this year when determining which teams make the 12-team field.

    The committee said in a statement that the schedule strength metric has been adjusted to apply greater weight to games against strong opponents. An additional metric, record strength, has been added to go beyond a team’s schedule strength to assess how a team performed against that schedule.

    “This metric rewards teams defeating high-quality opponents while minimizing the penalty for losing to such a team,” the committee said. “Conversely, these changes will provide minimal reward for defeating a lower-quality opponent while imposing a greater penalty for losing to such a team.”



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    The adjustment to the evaluation process comes after some in the Southeastern Conference complained about last season’s inclusion of — at the time of selections — an 11-2 SMU of the Atlantic Coast Conference over a 9-3 Alabama or even a 9-3 South Carolina or 9-3 Mississippi.

    SMU’s losses were to an unranked BYU and a ranked Clemson in the ACC championship game. Alabama had bad losses against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, both .500 at the time, but also had wins over a second-ranked Georgia, No. 21 Missouri and No. 14 LSU.

    Prompted by concerns about how teams that don’t play in conference championship games are judged, the committee reviewed the movement of idle teams from the second-to-last ranking to final ranking. The selection committee reaffirmed that movement in the final week should be evidence-based and did not recommend creating a formal policy prohibiting such movement.

    The committee also updated its policy on recusal of selection committee members.

    A member will be fully recused from the evaluation of a team if he or she receives direct compensation from the school in question or has an immediate family member who is a football player, football staff member or senior administrator at the school. A fully recused member is not allowed to participate in any deliberations or vote concerning that school.

    A member will be partially recused if he or she has a secondary relationship with the school in question, such as an immediate family member employed by the institution but outside of the football program or senior administration. A partially recused member may remain present and participate in discussions related to the team in question but is not allowed to participate in votes involving the team.

    The selection committee will release its five weekly Top 25 rankings on Nov. 4. The final rankings and playoff field will be announced Dec. 7.

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  • No. 6 Ole Miss opens against Furman with highest preseason ranking since 1970

    No. 6 Ole Miss opens against Furman with highest preseason ranking since 1970

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    Furman at No. 6 Mississippi, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+/SEC+)

    BetMGM College Football Odds: Ole Miss by 42 1/2.

    Series record: Furman leads 1-0.

    WHAT’S AT STAKE?

    The Rebels are coming off their first 11-win season and aiming high again, this time for the newly expanded College Football Playoff. They’re enjoying the program’s highest preseason ranking since 1970. Furman is coming off back-to-back 10-win seasons and won the 2023 Southern Conference championship. The Paladins return only seven starters, though.

    KEY MATCHUP

    An Ole Miss defense that stocked up in the transfer portal against an offense that lost its starting quarterback, top running back and the four offensive linemen who played the most snaps. The Ole Miss transfer group includes former Texas A&M defensive lineman Walter Nolan, ex-Florida defensive end Princely Umanmielen, former Alabama cornerback Trey Amos and Arkansas transfer linebacker Chris Paul Jr.

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Furman: All-SoCon bandit Luke Clark had 53 tackles last season and led the team with six sacks. He’s picked to repeat for all-conference honors.

    Ole Miss: RBs Ulysses Bentley IV and Henry Parrish Jr. will get their chances to shine with star Quinshon Judkins now at Ohio State. Bentley ran for 540 yards last season while Parrish returns for his second stint at Ole Miss after leading the Miami Hurricanes in rushing each of the past two seasons. Miami of Ohio transfer Rashad Amos was a 1,000-yard rusher last season.

    FACTS & FIGURES

    An Ole Miss win would mark No. 300 on the field at Vaught-Hemingway, not counting victories that were later vacated by the NCAA. … The Rebels are 21-2 at home since 2021, with two 7-0 seasons. … Furman finished last season ranked in the top seven in the FCS polls, its highest final ranking since 2005. … A Furman defense that ranked 11th in the FCS allowing just 18.2 points per game returns only four of its top 15 tacklers. … Furman won the only previous meeting 7-2 on Nov. 14, 1924, in Greenville, South Carolina.

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  • Ole Miss stuns Stanford, reaches first Sweet 16 in 16 years

    Ole Miss stuns Stanford, reaches first Sweet 16 in 16 years

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    STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Sobbing as she received hugs from friends, family and administrators, Mississippi coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin tried to grasp the magnitude of her team’s stunning win against top-seeded Stanford when someone reminded her there’s more basketball to be played.

    Her two young daughters danced for joy on the floor.

    Her proud father provided a shoutout to everybody back home in The Bahamas.

    Her team posed at midcourt and shouted, “Seattle!” That’s where the Rebels are headed next.

    Madison Scott hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left that gave Mississippi the lead for good, Angel Baker scored 13 points, and the Rebels delivered on their declaration to get defensive, stunning top-seeded Stanford 54-49 on Sunday night to reach the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years.

    “First of all just incredibly grateful. I have a lot of mentors in my life and one of my mentors would always say to me that the person with the experience is at the mercy of the one with the anointing,” the 40-year-old McPhee-McCuin said in reference to Hall of Famer and winningest women’s coach Tara VanDerveer. “He spoke that over my life maybe 10 years ago. And so to be in this situation right now, to take down an historical program like Stanford, a coach and a woman that I admire I have watched is incredible.”

    Behind the entire game and never with a lead, Stanford called timeout with 28 seconds left then Hannah Jump turned the ball over and Scott converted. Haley Jones lost the ball out of bounds on the Cardinal’s last possession with a chance to tie then again in the waning moments.

    Marquesha Davis hit a pair of free throws with 15.4 seconds to play as Ole Miss overcame not making a field goal over the final 5:47, going 0 for 8.

    “This is such a big accomplishment. A lot of us came here to make history and that’s what we’re doing,” freshman Ayanna Thompson said.

    These upstart Rebels (25-8) advance to the Seattle Regional semifinal next weekend, while VanDerveer’s Stanford team (29-6) is eliminated far earlier than this group envisioned — the season ending on the Cardinal’s home floor. Jones fought tears after her final game, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds but five turnovers.

    “Some of the things we did were self-inflicted. The turnovers really hurt us,” VanDerveer said. “They’re really a tough team, they’re a lot better than (No.) 8 teams we’ve played before. Sometimes you don’t have a really good matchup.”

    Only four No. 1 seeds had lost before the Sweet 16 since 1994, with Duke the last one in 2009. Stanford did so once before, falling to 16th-seeded Harvard in the first round of the 1998 tournament.

    The Cardinal had reached 14 straight Sweet 16s and hadn’t lost in the first or second rounds since No. 10 seed Florida State shocked the fifth-seeded Cardinal 68-61 at Maples Pavilion in the second round exactly 16 years ago to the day before on March 19, 2007.

    Cameron Brink came back from a one-game absence because of a stomach bug to finish with 20 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots, but Stanford never led and tried to come from behind all night. The program’s career blocks leader, the junior star finished with 118 on the season and has 297 total.

    “Cam wasn’t 100% today but I thought she really battled,” VanDerveer said.

    Stanford had won 21 consecutive NCAA games on its home floor and is 41-5 all-time at Maples during March Madness.

    Ole Miss led the entire first half on the way to a 29-20 advantage at the break at raucous Maples Pavilion, where the crowd went wild when Brink blocked three straight shots in the same sequence by Rita Igbokwe midway through the second quarter. About two minutes later, Igbokwe grabbed at her mouth after being hit.

    The Rebels got a scare when senior guard Myah Taylor went down hard grabbing at her chest with 6:41 left in the third after colliding with Francesca Belibi while moving to defend Indya Nivar. After a short break to catch her breath, Taylor was back running the point.

    The Rebels declared from Day 1 arriving in the Bay Area they were ready to play their tenacious defense to make a mark on the NCAA Tournament. Stanford’s layups regularly rolled out. The Cardinal got called for repeated offensive fouls. They made mistakes when it mattered most.

    “It brought tears to my eyes,” said Gladstone McPhee, coach McPhee-McCuin’s father. “It’s beautiful. This is what you wait for.”

    BIG PICTURE Ole Miss: Parents Gladstone and Daisy cheered on fifth-year coach McPhee-McCuin as her team reached the second round after last year’s first-round exit by South Dakota. Her daughters, 10-year-old Yasmine and Yuri, 5, rooted the team all the way, with Yasmine yelling, “That’s my mom!” when Ole Miss came out before tipoff. … The Rebels advanced to the Elite Eight in 2007. After grabbing 24 offensive rebounds in the win against Gonzaga, the Rebels crashed the boards again to create second chances with 20 more.

    Stanford: The Cardinal also never led in the first half of 55-46 loss at USC on Jan. 15. … They had a 14-game home winning streak since a 76-71 overtime loss to No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 20. … VanDerveer announced Jump plans to return for another year of eligibility. Jones will turn pro and Belibi has been accepted into a program at Harvard.

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