Today: Ole Miss's playoff gamble, questionable CFP committee decisions, NCAA gambling rule pushback, and top transfer portal players. |
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Why the Lane Kiffin situation could affect Playoff seeding for Ole Miss |
Ole Miss' playoff positioning could be directly affected if Lane Kiffin is not the Rebels' coach when the final College Football Playoff rankings are revealed on Dec. 7, especially if there is still no resolution heading into conference championship weekend. Among the principles the CFP committee uses to compare similar teams are strength of schedule, head-to-head results, common opponents, and the availability of key players and coaches who may impact postseason performance. That same principle played a significant role in Florida State being left out of the 2023 playoff after Jordan Travis suffered a late-season injury. A former CFP committee member told On3 that an absent head coach can absolutely matter if seeding margins are tight. |
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| "If you're suddenly without your head coach when they do the final seeding, the coach who's gotten you to that point, then they could definitely drop you in the seeding order and put you on the road." |
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Ole Miss is No. 6 in the latest CFP rankings, with seeds 5-8 receiving home first-round games and the top four receiving byes. Kiffin has not signed a contract extension and remains the leading target for both Florida and LSU. School officials want an answer before the Egg Bowl, but if he misses that deadline, sources have wondered whether he would even be allowed to coach the Rebels in the playoff. His family's recent travel to Baton Rouge and Gainesville has intensified speculation. Kiffin was pressed repeatedly on the SEC teleconference, at one point responding to a question about coaching the Egg Bowl by asking, "Do you know something that I don't know?" He reiterated that he was not discussing other jobs, but he did not commit to returning next season. One Ole Miss source told On3 the expectation is simple: shortly after the Egg Bowl, Kiffin will either sign a new contract or be wished well at his next job. Timing remains a significant concern. Sources noted that with national signing day on Dec. 3 and the transfer portal opening Jan. 2, it would be extremely difficult for a coach entertaining offers elsewhere to lead a team through December. As one source put it, Ole Miss simply wants to protect itself while avoiding a scenario where the situation becomes a legal standoff. Athletic directors surveyed by On3 overwhelmingly said they would not allow a departing coach to remain through the playoff, even though fans were more divided. Ole Miss, meanwhile, is quietly doing its due diligence with other candidates to ensure it can move quickly if Kiffin leaves. The uncertainty is particularly frustrating for a program that has won ten or more games in three of the last four seasons and has invested heavily in Kiffin's success. As one source told On3, the longer this lingers, the more realistic it becomes that the Rebels' playoff seeding could be affected. Where Kiffin ultimately lands remains unclear, but until there is an answer, Ole Miss faces playoff implications tied directly to his future. Read the full story from Chris Low. |
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Four puzzling decisions and explanations from the CFP Committee |
The College Football Playoff Committee released its newest rankings Tuesday night, and newly appointed chair Hunter Yurachek, the athletic director at Arkansas, took questions on several debated decisions. The CFP chair's job is brutal. You are asked to publicly justify the reasoning of a group that often disagrees internally, and Yurachek is doing this while also conducting a coaching search at Arkansas. Still, it is his responsibility to defend the rankings, even if it is impossible to do so without conflicting explanations. Here are the biggest decisions worth scrutinizing. 1. Why did Alabama drop to 10? Alabama's fall from No. 4 to No. 10 was the surprise of the night. Losing to Oklahoma meant the Sooners would rightfully jump the Crimson Tide, but dropping behind Notre Dame, which has the same record and far fewer ranked wins, raised serious questions. Yurachek pointed to Alabama's Week 1 loss to 5-5 Florida State as evidence of early rushing issues, even though that loss did not seem to matter when Alabama held the No. 4 spot the first two weeks. The good news for the Crimson Tide is that they still control their path to the SEC title game and the CFP. If Alabama wins out, it will reach Atlanta and remain firmly in the playoff hunt. 2. Who you lost to matters more than it did in the past Last season, the debate centered on quality wins. This season, the committee appears to be placing far more emphasis on quality losses. Notre Dame is the clearest example. The Irish remain ahead of Alabama because their losses to Texas A&M and Miami are viewed more favorably than Alabama's losses, even though Alabama has the superior set of wins. Yurachek explicitly pointed to "comparable losses" as the deciding factor between the Irish and the Crimson Tide. It is a major philosophical shift from previous years, and it is already reshaping the playoff picture. 3. Notre Dame and Miami The ongoing Notre Dame and Miami debate continues to frustrate fans. Yurachek said the committee is comparing the losses of the two teams and that the head-to-head Miami win is not yet activated because the teams have not appeared in the same comparison pool. It is a strange explanation considering the result is sitting in plain sight. Miami can still change its fate. If the Hurricanes reach 10-2 and climb closer to Notre Dame, they will enter the same grouping. At that point, the head-to-head would finally apply, and Miami would have a realistic shot to jump the Irish. 4. Oregon is still getting credit for Penn State? Oregon sits at No. 7 ahead of No. 8 Oklahoma despite lacking a top 25 win. Yurachek defended the Ducks by citing strong statistical metrics and what he called important road wins at Iowa and Penn State. Penn State is now 4-6, and giving Oregon credit for beating a team in that position raises obvious concerns. This creates yet another inconsistency. Some teams are rewarded for early-season results that no longer carry weight, while others are punished for losses that happened under completely different circumstances. It is another example of the shifting logic that defines this year's rankings. Read the full story from Ari Wasserman. |
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NCAA's pro sports betting change in jeopardy after power conferences push back |
Back in early October, the new NCAA Division I Cabinet voted to lift the long-standing ban on college athletes and staff betting on professional sports. The rule was set to take effect Nov. 1. But days before implementation, and after the SEC urged a reversal, the NCAA initiated a formal rescission process. Rescission is rare and requires a 30-day online vote. Two-thirds of Division I, or 241 of 361 schools, must support rescission for the original decision to be overturned. As of Wednesday afternoon, 148 schools have voted to rescind, nearly 100 short of the required number with the deadline at 5 p.m. Friday. But the power leagues have made their position clear. Of the 148 "yes" votes, 54 come from power conference programs. Nearly 80 percent of the sport's most influential institutions are in favor of the ban. Leaders across those leagues are speaking publicly, and their comments illustrate why the pushback has grown so quickly: - Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark says this is not the time to loosen gambling rules, and protecting athletes from the pressures and effects of betting remains essential.
- Georgia president Jere Morehead believes the vote totals should force the NCAA to reconsider, and allowing athlete gambling could open the door to deeper issues once players turn professional.
- Wake Forest AD John Currie: A member of the DI Cabinet, he voted against the proposal in October and said he is encouraged by the momentum to overturn it.
- SEC commissioner Greg Sankey warned in a letter to the NCAA that removing the ban sends the wrong signal in a rapidly expanding gambling environment.
If the rescission fails to hit 241 votes but the power conferences overwhelmingly oppose the rule, what happens next? History suggests the power leagues tend to get what they want. Schools and conferences can always enact their own rules, including a complete ban on pro sports betting, but that would create an uneven landscape and conflicting policies across Division I. The Cabinet's original vote had its reasons. The move aligns athletes with regular students. It fits a broader trend in college athletics to reduce restrictions around transfers and NIL. It also avoids tying the NCAA to "control" arguments in the Johnson vs. NCAA employment case, where gambling bans were cited as evidence of employer-like oversight. The NCAA also said the rule could prompt more openness around gambling behavior, and the DI Student-Athlete Advisory Committee supported the change with enhanced education. But then an NBA gambling scandal surfaced. The SEC pushed back. The rescission process began. And now, with the deadline approaching, a single question remains. On Friday at 5 p.m., what will happen? Read the full report from Ross Dellenger. |
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Top transfer portal impact players of week 12 |
In the new era of college football, the transfer portal has become a significant component of roster construction. Throughout the college football season, On3 is breaking down the top 10 transfer portal impact players based on weekly performances. Here are the most impactful transfer portal players from Week 12. 1. Ole Miss RB Kewan Lacy Missouri transfer running back Kewan Lacy rushed for 224 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score on the first play of the fourth quarter, as Ole Miss picked up a 34-24 win over Florida. Lacy carried the ball 31 times, averaging over 7.2 yards per carry. He currently leads the SEC with 19 rushing touchdowns this season. 2. Missouri RB Ahmad Hardy The ULM transfer had a career day for Missouri on Saturday against Mississippi State. Ahmad Hardy rushed for a career-best 300 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries. Hardy's 300-yard rushing performance was the second in Missouri history. He shattered his previous career-high of 250 rushing yards. 3. Miami S Jakobe Thomas Tennessee transfer Jakobe Thomas picked off two passes in the first quarter against NC State, running one of them back for a touchdown for Miami. Thomas finished with three tackles on the day as Miami cruised to a 41-7 win over the Wolfpack. 4. Texas A&M WR KC Concepcion Texas A&M rallied from a 27-point halftime deficit on Saturday against South Carolina. K.C. Concepcion had seven receptions for 158 yards in the comeback win. The NC State transfer had a 43-yard pickup in double coverage and averaged 22.6 yards per catch. 5. Oklahoma QB John Mateer Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer managed 161 total yards, including 138 passing, and scored on the ground to lead the Sooners' offense in a 23-21 win at Alabama. It was Oklahoma's defense that made the difference in the win, producing 17 points off three turnovers. See Pete Nakos' full top 10 ranking. |
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Below, you'll find 3 facts about a random college football player. You'll try to guess who the player is based on the facts. Let's go. - I transferred into Alabama from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where I dominated despite weighing over 400 pounds and became the true nose tackle Nick Saban needed.
- I delivered one of the most famous Alabama-Tennessee moments ever by blocking two field goals in 2009, including a game-saving kick in the final seconds.
- I was a finalist for the 2009 Lombardi, Nagurski, and Bednarik Awards, helped win a national title, and later played in the NFL after being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.
Answer at the bottom. |
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BetMGM updates Heisman Trophy odds after Week 12 |
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