Ole Miss football head coach Lane Kiffin sent a classy message to Georgia football after the Bulldogs won the SEC Championship against No. 3 Texas. Kirby Smart’s team is now set up to get the two-seed in the twelve-team College Football Playoff. The result comes less than a month after the Bulldogs were shellacked on the road at Vaught Hemingway Stadium. Kiffin’s message was well-natured but might have an underlying meaning, considering the Rebels’ playoff chances.

Ole Miss football’s chances of qualifying are slim, unlike Alabama’s

The Rebels came in at No. 13 in the latest CFP rankings. Lane Kiffin’s team is between two three-loss SEC teams, one that it beat and another that it never played: No. 14 South Carolina and No. 11 Alabama. The Rebels and Crimson Tide have similar resumes, with some slight discrepancies when it comes to the metrics. However, a closer look, and the case can be made for Lane Kiffin’s team.

Alabama has a better strength of schedule (18 to 31), strength of record (10 to 19), and higher computer ranking (11 to 15). Record-wise, the Rebels have the worst loss against 4-8 Kentucky on paper. However, it’s not always so much who you beat but how and when. All of the Rebels’ three defeats have been extremely close, adding up to a total of 13 points.

Alabama’s defeats add up to 33 points. Additionally, despite the Rebels’ Kentucky loss in September, the Crimson Tide’s blowout defeat to 6-6 Oklahoma on November 23 takes the cake as the most embarrassing moment for either program this year. In addition, Ole Miss blew out Georgia at home on November 9, while Alabama escaped the Bulldogs at home on September 28.

Overall, it’s safe to say that the Rebels are trending in the right direction and are the better team on paper right now. Ole Miss deserves more consideration if the committee is focused on getting the twelve-best teams in.

However, the argument for the Rebels against the Crimson Tide may not matter anymore. Alabama could be left out of the playoff after No. 17 Clemson beat the odds against No. 8 SMU for the ACC title. Now, the Mustangs might get the at-large bid over the Crimson Tide. The tussle for that last spot will be the debate that sweeps the nation for the next 24 hours.

Overall, Lane Kiffin’s message to Georgia is a classy one. But it may allude to the fact that the Rebels deserve more love from the playoff committee. Unfortunately, it seems like Ole Miss football will not make the twelve-team playoff. This expectation is a disappointment for a program that entered the year No. 6. Nevertheless, Kiffin has his program in a position to consistently compete for a playoff spot in the coming years. Ole Miss fans should still be confident in their program’s future.