How do the kids say it these days? If you’re an SEC “hater,” Ole Miss just became your favorite team.
Throughout the Rebels’ exsanguination of Texas A&M Saturday evening, one had to watch, mouth agape, thinking, “Where the heck has this been since they defeated Alabama?”
Ole Miss displayed its best self, a collection of elite talent on both sides of the ball, so good that if the other side is off a tick (against Alabama, the defense; against TAMU, the offense), the Rebels can still whip you right and good.
Oh, by the way, this same team that got gutted by Florida and was outclassed cleanly by Memphis of the AAC? It could win the SEC West.
So, it’s worth asking, since it’s not impossible or even ridiculously unlikely: What might the CFB Playoff committee do? We might find out just how important winning your conference … hell, winning your division … really is to those people who will choose on December 6.
The story goes like this: Ole Miss wins out. That’s it. It’s not entirely implausible at all. The Rebels have already won in Tuscaloosa. After SEC West wine-cellar scufflers Auburn and Arkansas, they’ll get a bye week before hosting LSU. Regardless of what happens with LSU and Alabama in a few weeks, Ole Miss would have tiebreaker wins over two SEC West teams that would finish with one loss.
Certainly, Saturday night, after making TAMU cry uncle on offense to the tune of 192 total yards and no touchdowns in a 23-3 clubbing, the idea of Ole Miss winning out isn’t far-fetched
So thorough was the Ole Miss defense that at one point, Allen was 1-18 with minus-1 yard passing total during a stretch. If that defense brings that level of effort, and quarterback Chad Kelly gets a little better at finding his elite wide receivers, they’re tough to defeat for anyone.
So, what then?
It’s almost worth rooting for the Rebels, just to see where the committee’s loyalties and ideals lie.
Much of this, of course, is hyperbolic and fluid. There are still unbeaten teams in every major conference but the Pac-12, and multiple ones in the Big Ten and Big 12. That will work itself out, though, as every year, the pressure mounts on teams not fully used to it.
Say this scenario happens, though. Would the CFB Playoff committee really leave an SEC team out … potentially even a 1-loss SEC team … considering it didn’t win the division? Or does the “eye test” pass enough muster? Or, worse yet, do the demons in Bristol start rattling their sabers of influence around? That one’s a little X-Files, probably, but concerns will be expressed.
You’re also assuming in this scenario that Florida doesn’t win out, which might reasonably happen.
The point is, over halfway through the season, the SEC DOOM scenario exists, and exists as a legitimate possibility. We’re only four Ole Miss wins away from it happening.
Thus, we’re only four Ole Miss wins away from some smart aleck printing “Memphis: 2015 SEC West Champs” tee shirts. Just hand over 50 percent of the royalties for the idea.
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