Ole Miss drops in AP, Coaches Poll rankings as CFP hopes take hit

The autopsy report Ole Miss after its 35-point loss to Georgia on Saturday night in Oxford is still being written, but the consequences are already coming out.

The Rebels, unsurprisingly, took a big fall in the major top 25 rankings released Sunday morning. They fell to No. 19 in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll and No. 17 in the US LBM Coaches Poll.

It’s the lowest ranking of the season for Ole Miss, but those rankings aren’t the truly important ones. The important one will come out Tuesday night when ESPN reveals the updated College Football Playoff rankings.

While selection committee’s rankings usually differ from the other polls, some trends appear in both places and the trend of Ole Miss falling will be one of those.

The major question for Ole Miss fans is how far will their Rebels fall?

Ole Miss appeared at No. 10 in the initial CFP rankings last week. That put the Rebels well within range of securing one of the 12 playoff spots. They’re almost certainly going to fall out of that range on Tuesday.

But it shouldn’t end all hope of a second-straight playoff appearance for the Rebels. ESPN still gives them a 38% chance of making the playoff, but that’ll require things outside of their control.

First, Ole Miss has to win its final three games and its not exactly a murderer’s row of opponents. Oklahoma and Mississippi State are both beatable and Wofford is a win as long Ole Miss shows up.

But the Rebels will also need one of the four SEC teams with two losses to lose. They might need more than one, too.

While Saturday night was the opposite of a good night for Ole Miss, head coach Pete Golding at least said the right things about his team’s playoff chances.

“We worry about things that we can’t control. All we can control is coming back in here tomorrow, evaluating this tape and getting it fixed,” Golding said in his postgame press conference. “That starts with me. We can’t control right now what the playoff committee thinks. We’ve got to get ready for Oklahoma, and in order to get ready for Oklahoma, we’ve just got to fix what we put on tape because we’re going to get exposed if we don’t.”

So, the Rebels will focus on beating Oklahoma in Norman next week. They’ll leave the worrying about CFP odds to us.

AP Top 25 College Football Poll

1. Georgia (8-1)
2. Utah (9-0)
3. Notre Dame (8-1)
4. UCLA (9-0)
5. Miami (FL) (8-1)
6. Indiana (8-1)
7. Alabama (7-2)
8. Texas (7-2)
9. Tennessee (7-2)
10. Texas Tech (8-1)
11. Wake Forest (8-1)
12. BYU (7-2)
13. Kentucky (7-2)
14. Houston (7-2)
15. USC (7-2)
16. Iowa (7-2)
17. Boise State (8-1)
18. Oregon (6-3)
19. Ole Miss (6-3)
20. South Carolina (6-3)
21. Ohio State (6-3)
22. Arizona (7-2)
23. New Mexico (8-1)
24. LSU (6-3)
25. SMU (7-2)

US LBM Coaches Poll

1. Georgia Bulldogs (8-1)
2. Utah Utes (9-0)
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-1)
4. UCLA Bruins (9-0)
5. Indiana Hoosiers (8-1)
6. Miami (FL) Hurricanes (8-1)
7. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-2)
8. Texas Longhorns (7-2)
9. Tennessee Volunteers (7-2)
10. Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-1)
11. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-1)
12. BYU Cougars (7-2)
13. Kentucky Wildcats (7-2)
14. USC Trojans (7-2)
15. Iowa Hawkeyes (7-2)
16. Houston Cougars (7-2)
17. Ole Miss Rebels (6-3)
18. Boise State Broncos (8-1)
19. Oregon Ducks (6-3)
20. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-3)
21. Arizona Wildcats (7-2)
22. LSU Tigers (6-3)
23. SMU Mustangs (7-2)
24. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-3)
25. New Mexico Lobos (8-1)

Others receiving votes: Duke 172; Missouri 147; Oklahoma State 27; Northwestern 17; Illinois 13; North Texas 7; Louisville 6; Liberty 6; Wisconsin 5; Oklahoma 2; Minnesota 2; Air Force 1.