The expected has finally happened.
The College Football Playoff is expanding to 24 teams. Unfortunately for Ole Miss, it doesn’t go into effect until next season.
Talk about bad timing.
Just two days after the Rebels suffered an embarrassing 42-7 loss to Georgia that put their playoff hopes in serious jeopardy, college football announced a new postseason format that would’ve made their path to the CFP considerably easier.
Some nice, tidy graphics from the CFP on the new 24-team playoff https://t.co/WKAHeIVfDO pic.twitter.com/r2FlzubRLT
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 9, 2026
ESPN and the CFP announced Monday a five-year media rights agreement, reportedly worth nearly $1.7 billion, that will expand the playoff field from 12 to 24 teams beginning with the 2027 season.
The new format will include 19 at-large bids, automatic spots for the four Power Four conference champions and one for the highest-ranked Group of Six team. Conference championship games are also expected to disappear.
And for a program like Ole Miss, that’s pretty good news.
Just not this year.
Imagine how different the conversation around the Rebels would be right now if the expansion were happening a year earlier.
Instead of wondering whether Ole Miss needs a series of upsets and favorable results across the country to sneak into a 12-team playoff, we’d be talking about how the Rebels still have a relatively comfortable path into a 24-team field.
Ole Miss fell to No. 19 in Sunday’s Associated Press poll following the Georgia debacle. Even after that performance, the Rebels would be comfortably inside the expanded field based on their current ranking.
Of course, the AP poll doesn’t determine the playoff field, and there’s no guarantee Ole Miss would remain among the top 24 teams if it keeps losing.
But the point remains.
A three-loss SEC team would have a whole lot more breathing room in a 24-team playoff than it does in the current format.
Statement from @SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on @CFBPlayoff expansion to 24 teams: pic.twitter.com/PS8T2czfSg
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) November 9, 2026
Unfortunately, the Rebels are stuck with the current system, and their margin for error is essentially gone.
that’s not such a bad thing to focus on right now.
Because as Pete Golding pointed out following Saturday night’s loss, Ole Miss has much bigger concerns than where it stands in the playoff rankings.
“Our focus is going to go back to what we can control,” Golding said. “That’s where we get lost around here, in my opinion, at times. We worry about things that we can’t control.”
He’s right.
Ole Miss can’t control how far it falls in Tuesday night’s CFP rankings.
What it can control is how it responds to getting absolutely embarrassed on its home field.
And based on what happened against Georgia, there’s plenty that needs fixing before Saturday’s road trip to Oklahoma.
