By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer
Mississippi lost a coach but gained in the College Football Rankings that were released on Tuesday, moving up a spot to No. 6 despite the sudden departure of Lane Kiffin to LSU.
Ole Miss officials were concerned that the selection committee might ding them after Kiffin departed for their SEC rival on Sunday, potentially putting their chances of hosting a CFP first-round game later this month in jeopardy.
“Obviously, our team is still intact,” Mississippi athletic director Keith Carter told ESPN on Tuesday. “Our players are fired up and ready to go. We’ve got a great staff that’s ready to roll throughout the playoff run.”
Mississippi defeated rival Mississippi State, 38-19, on the road in last week’s Egg Bowl, which turned out to be Kiffin’s final game coaching the Rebels.
Undefeated Ohio State and Indiana remained at 1 and 2 in the rankings, while Georgia moved to third and Texas Tech rose to No. 4. The rest of the top 12: Oregon, Mississippi, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama, Notre Dame, BYU and Miami.
The Bulldogs, Red Raiders and Ducks each moved up one spot after previously unbeaten Texas A&M lost to Texas, 27-17, last week.
The final rankings come out Sunday, the day after a slate of conference title games determines the five automatic qualifiers for the 12-team bracket.
The playoffs begin Dec. 19 and end a month later with the title game outside Miami.
As newsy as the selection committee’s decision not to dock Mississippi for losing its coach – something it has the latitude to do – was a flip-flop between Alabama and Notre Dame, with the Tide moving up to No. 9 and the Irish dropping to 10.
Both teams won last week to improve to 10-2, and Alabama now has a better chance to make the 12-team bracket even with a potential loss to Georgia on Saturday, which would be the Tide’s third this season, in the SEC title game.
“I will tell you that the debate between Alabama and Notre Dame the past three weeks has been one of the strongest debates we’ve had in the room for the past two years that I’ve been a member of the committee,” CFP selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek, the athletic director at Arkansas, said during ESPN’s rankings release show on Tuesday night. “Notre Dame went on the road, had a strong win at Stanford. But Alabama went on the road, in a rivalry game, and looked really good, especially in the first half.”
Now, Notre Dame finds itself in a precarious position on the bubble despite a 10-game winning streak.
The Irish can’t afford too many upsets in the title games – namely a BYU win over Texas Tech in the Big 12.
In another move that could have a huge impact, the committee put James Madison of the Sun Belt Conference at No. 25 – higher than unranked Duke, which plays No. 17 Virginia for the Atlantic Coast Conference title.
If Duke and James Madison win, then James Madison could deny the ACC an automatic bid. Those go to the five best-ranked conference titlists. The American seems to have a hold on one of those, with No. 20 Tulane and No. 24 North Texas slated for that title game Friday.
As it stands now, Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia and Texas Tech would receive first-round byes under the current rankings. And the first-round games would like this: Tulane at Oregon; Virginia at Ole Miss; Notre Dame at Texas A&M; and Alabama at Oklahoma.
BYU and Miami would be bumped out of the field if Tuesday’s rankings were used the 12-team playoff bracket. No. 17 Virginia would replace BYU as the projected ACC champion; No. 20 Tulane would replace Miami as the highest-ranked champion of a non-power four conference.
“We will evaluate the results of the championship games after they are all completed,” Yurachek said.
Notre Dame lost at Miami, 27-24, in the Aug. 31 opener, but the Fighting Irish remain two spots in front of the Hurricanes, even though the teams have identical 10-2 records. Both teams have completed their regular season.
“Idle teams can move following the results of the championship games,” Yurachek said with specific regard to Miami and Notre Dame, who are both off this weekend. “Teams that are idle can move up or down.”
How the selection committee would handle Mississippi was one of the most pressing questions concerning this week’s rankings. Ole Miss won 11 games in the regular season for the first time in school history and its only loss came on the road at Georgia, 43-35 on Oct. 18. The Rebels have won five straight since that defeat.
“I think these guys should be judged by what they’ve done on the field, and 11-1, I think it speaks for itself,” Carter said. “I would hope that the committee kind of looks at the information they have and rewards these young men for an incredible season.”
Kiffin left Ole Miss before finishing his sixth season with the program, signing a seven-year contract with LSU that will make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the FBS. He took a handful of assistant coaches with him to Baton Rouge on Sunday.
On Tuesday, LSU announced that offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., the team’s primary play-caller this season, would be allowed to return to Ole Miss for the CFP.
“I’ve already made the committee aware of this and I’m hopeful this decision will allow Ole Miss to receive the highest ranking possible because these great players are very deserving of that,” Kiffin said in a statement. “I’m excited that Charlie will be back to help coach the greatest team in the history of Ole Miss.”
Texas moved up three spots to No. 13 after its upset of the Aggies, followed by Vanderbilt and Utah. USC was No. 16 and Virginia, Arizona, Michigan and Tulane completed the top 20. Houston, Georgia Tech, Iowa, North Texas and James Madison were ranked Nos. 21-25.
Houston, Iowa, North Texas and JMU were new additions to the rankings. Tennessee, Arizona State, SMU and Pittsburgh fell out of the rankings after losing last week.
News services contributed to this story.