The regular season in college football has come to a close and what a thrilling finish it was from coast to coast.
A handful of programs locked up bowl eligibility in the final minutes of their final game to hit that elusive 6–6 mark, while others played their way into the College Football Playoff bubble with memorable upsets and rivalry wins. No matter what side of the coin you fell on in terms of the scoreboard, the past weekend was one where you had to give thanks for this sport that never fails to produce incredible results. It’s a joy to watch and even better to follow along if you don’t have any rooting interests.
Now comes the much harder part in sorting out the postseason destination for all 82 eligible teams. Much of that will naturally start Tuesday with the CFP selection committee’s latest rankings leading into the conference title games. That’s where we will start following the news that Lane Kiffin is indeed leaving Mississippi for LSU.
The loss of the Rebels’ head coach and several assistants has a chance to seriously impact their seeding. It should not in any way hamper the team’s ability to make the playoff field—they’ve earned it and the bubble is too complicated as is—but it is within the committee’s protocols to strongly consider. What would that look like in practice?
It would likely give Notre Dame a home game and set up a juicy first-round game involving SEC title game participant Alabama traveling to South Bend in the middle of December. Now, there are plenty of conspiracy theorists who believe the CFP is simply a TV show for ESPN and every decision flows from that (it doesn’t), but there’s no denying that all involved would benefit from seeing those two bluebloods square off this season. Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Oregon all remain in line to host a game, but the committee could look to avoid a rematch of a game we’ve already seen (Ole Miss at Oklahoma) and instead drop the Rebels down to the No. 11 seed to make them play at Kyle Field against the Aggies.
By doing that, the committee would reaffirm that, well, you shouldn’t lose the key figures of a team which has made a run to the playoff on the eve of Selection Sunday. The simple fact is that this version of Ole Miss isn’t the one we’ve seen across 12 games. It can’t be. Dropping the Rebels down protects the bracket and gives us some fantastic games from the first round through to the semifinals no matter what.
It also helps in one other aspect by clearing up the bubble—further separating the Fighting Irish from Miami, which has made the case for inclusion and has that head-to-head victory in August. No matter what happens between now and next Sunday, we’ve seen a lot of unprecedented stuff and it appears as though that won’t be stopping anytime soon.
Finally, from the CFP decisions will come the rest of the bowl picture that should feature some fantastic matchups. Imagine Diego Pavia and 10-win Vanderbilt taking on the Hurricanes in the Gator Bowl for the right to be the best non-playoff team this season? The Citrus Bowl feels pretty much locked into Texas-Michigan as it has been for weeks. Who doesn’t want to see either Dabo Swinney or Eli Drinkwitz have a vat of condiments dumped on their head in the Mayo Bowl?
Taking all that into account, here is how Sports Illustrated sees the playoff and all of the other 35 bowl games coming together to form the postseason picture in 2025–26 after Week 14.
College Football Playoff Projection After Week 14
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Texas Tech
- Oregon
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
- Notre Dame
- Alabama
- Virginia
- Ole Miss
- North Texas
First Round
- No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Notre Dame
- No. 10 Virginia at No. 7 Oklahoma
- No. 11 Ole Miss at No. 6 Texas A&M
- No. 12 North Texas at No. 5 Oregon
Quarterfinals
- Cotton Bowl: No. 4 Texas Tech vs. winner of No. 12 North Texas vs. No. 5 Oregon
- Orange Bowl: No. 3 Indiana vs. winner of No. 11 Ole Miss vs. No. 6 Texas A&M
- Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Georgia vs. winner of No. 10 Virginia at No. 7 Oklahoma
- Rose Bowl: No. 1 Ohio State vs. winner of No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Notre Dame
College Football Bowl Projection After Week 14
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as College Football Playoff and Bowl Projections After Week 14: How Will Committee View Ole Miss?.
