The Ole Miss Rebels are highly unlikely to be part of the 12-team College Football Playoff field, but Lane Kiffin is still trying to make the case. The Illinois Fighting Illini are not even on anyone’s radar to make the field, but Bielema is not letting Kiffin make his case without factoring in his own.
Kiffin took to X on Sunday to try to make Ole Miss’ playoff case. He shared a screenshot that included a number of statistics contrasting the Rebels with South Carolina and Alabama, two other fringe playoff hopefuls, that leaned on metrics such as margin of victory against common opponents and head-to-head records. The Ole Miss coach was undeterred, and even tagged the official College Football Playoff X account in his post.
@CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/U39OUZrOmM
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) December 1, 2024
Kiffin is just doing his job, but Bielema could not help but take notice. He suggested he agreed with Kiffin, then pointed out that the 9-3 Illini had the same overall record as Ole Miss, but with a better strength of schedule and much better losses than the Rebels did.
“How about we just take the best 12 teams and see where it goes…” Bielema concluded.
I couldn’t agree more @Lane_Kiffin here is a thought for the @CFBPlayoff
Ole miss #31 strength of schedule and has 3 losses to unranked Kentucky, Florida and 8-4 LSU team 🤷♂️#Illinois HAS #30 strength of schedule and has 3 losses to #1 Oregon and #4 Penn State and a one… https://t.co/Bw8haGFf8s
— Bret Bielema (@BretBielema) December 2, 2024
Bielema presumably knows Illinois is not seriously in the frame for a playoff berth. Whether intentional or not, his case for the Illini pretty much tears apart Ole Miss’ argument in the process. Ole Miss has significantly better wins than Illinois does, but once one gets down to this part of the resume, there isn’t really an argument for either of them.
If Nick Saban has a hard time putting together an argument for a three-loss Alabama team to get into the field, the odds are not good for Ole Miss. As for Bielema, he might as well shoot his shot if Kiffin is going to open that door for him.
