Dan Mullen was as emotional as ever after Mississippi State lost, 31-17, to Ole Miss on Saturday night.

Gone was his usual Disney World smile, whether the Bulldogs won or lost. So perhaps he just got caught in the moment. But according to CBS Sports, Mullen had this to say about a hypothetical Egg Bowl win and what the college football landscape would’ve looked like.

“I didn’t think we were getting in the playoff anyway,” Mullen said. “If we had won today, I think there would have been some really interesting conversations that would have shaped the future of the playoff.”

More from writer Dennis Dodd:

Mullen merely surmised that an 11-1 Mississippi State that hadn’t won its division would have made it easy for the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. Elevate No. 6 Ohio State, if it wins the Big Ten. Elevate either TCU or Baylor from the Big 12.

“Maybe a lot of committee members breathed a big sigh of relief right now,” Mullen said. “They didn’t have to consider it, ‘If we bump them [from the top four], how do we bump them?'”

It’s hard to tell without hearing the tone of Mullen’s voice if this was a knee-jerk emotional reaction or him being realistic, but he must’ve spent weeks pondering the possibility after the Bulldogs lost to the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. That result made 11-1 and SEC West runner-up the best Mississippi State could do, assuming Bama kept winning.

It doesn’t matter now. But he’s probably right. Tuesday night, the College Football Playoff committee made it clear the margin between No. 4 Mississippi State and TCU, Ohio State and Baylor was razor-thin at best. A myriad of national writers spent hours speculating that the Buckeyes, with a win against Michigan and in the Big Ten title game, would surpass an idle Bulldogs team next weekend.

Even if that’s true, Alabama, Oregon or Florida State could lose next weekend in the conference championship game. Mississippi State would’ve loved being in that position anyway.

Even if the comments are realistic, it sounds a little like “we’ve hit our ceiling.” Or maybe he intended to offer some kind of consolation to the fan base.

What do you think about the comments?