Here’s a new twist to a tired story: everybody wins in the latest turn of everyone look at Lane Kiffin.
The College Football Playoff selection committee just signed off on it all.
Former Mississippi offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., seemingly the only adult in the room of a bitter divorce between Kiffin and Ole Miss, went to Kiffin Tuesday morning at LSU — where Kiffin and a handful of former Ole Miss assistants now work — and said he wanted to coach the Rebels in the CFP.
They deserve their best chance at winning games in the postseason, and extending the greatest season in school history. Kiffin agreed to the unique setup, and Weis — who just signed a term sheet to be LSU’s offensive coordinator — hopped on a plane and returned to Oxford.
Ole Miss officials — who earlier this weekend told Kiffin’s assistant coaches to leave now if they were going to LSU with Kiffin (just like Kiffin told them to leave now, or they won’t have a job) — were concerned about falling in the latest CFP poll and losing the opportunity to host a first round playoff game because the offensive staff had been gutted.
On Tuesday night, the CFP committee moved Ole Miss up a spot to No.6, all but guaranteeing the Rebels a first-round home game. Without Weis’ return to Ole Miss — he not only coordinates the offense, he is the team’s primary play caller — the Rebels could’ve fallen out of the Top 8, the cutoff line to host a first-round game.
So Kiffin looks like the magnanimous former coach, and Ole Miss looks like it’s acquiescing for the greater good. Weis, meanwhile, has returned to start preparing for the most important postseason in the history of the school.
Piece of cake, right?
Shortly after the move was announced, Kiffin posted on social media that he had allowed Weis to leave, and Ole Miss released a graphic on social media that included Weis and said, “Locked in the for the CFB Playoff.”
Like two petulant children bickering back and forth.
Fortunately, a cooler, calmer head prevailed.
Highlights of the Week 5 CFP rankings
The Fortunate
No. 11 Miami
No sweeter words were spoken Tuesday night for Hurricanes fans when committee chairman Hunter Yurachek explained a critical move in the selection process of next week’s final poll.
‘Idle teams can move following the results of championship week,’ Yurachek said.
Miami is No. 11, Notre Dame is No. 10, and they’re both idle this week. They have the same record, and Miami beat Notre Dame in the season opener.
The Irish have been ranked ahead of the Canes for the entire month of the CFP poll, and only now is there no light between them.
You do the head-to-head math.
No. 4 Texas Tech
No team has been as dominant, week after week. Every win this season has been by at least 22 points, and the only loss was at Arizona State in the last minute ― and without starting quarterback Behren Morton.
So yeah, Texas Tech deserves the No. 4 ranking, and the prize the comes with it: a first-round bye. Beat Brigham Young in the Big 12 championship game, and the top four ranking a first-round bye are locked in.
No. 7 Texas A&M
The previously unbeaten Aggies played their first significant SEC game last week, and got manhandled by rival Texas. The committee clearly wasn’t happy, dropping Texas A&M four spots ― but keeping the Aggies close to the cutline of hosting a first-round playoff game.
This looks like Texas A&M’s floor. There’s little chance the Aggies drop to No. 9, and out of hosting. For a team that has played one of the six other SEC teams in the CFP rankings, and lost.
The Frantic
No. 10 Notre Dame
The committee ― clearly enamored with Notre Dame’s steamrolling of an overmatched schedule despite the Irish losing their two significant games of the season (at Miami, Texas A&M) ― is moving toward a selection showdown with Miami.
Head to head, at some point, will come into play. Until this most recent poll, Notre Dame had a buffer between itself and Miami.
Now the Canes are just waiting for committee members to, you know, use a game played between the teams to make a decision.
No. 8 Oklahoma
The Sooners need to be concerned about the SEC championship game. Because what happens in Atlanta could have a direct impact on OU’s playoff seeding.
If Alabama beats Georgia ― the Tide won in Athens earlier this season ― it will jump ahead of Georgia, which will likely stay ahead of Oklahoma. And that ends the Sooners’ hopes of playing at home in the first round.
BYU beating Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship game could also be a problem for Oklahoma, which has not finished strong the last two weeks at home against Missouri and LSU.