ESPN’s Playoff Predictor had some good news and some bad news for a few SEC teams who had dramatic Week 3 results.
When the updated College Football Playoff odds were spit out on Tuesday afternoon, according to ESPN Insights, there was 1 SEC team in particular whose Playoff odds got a huge boost. Not surprisingly, that team was Ole Miss, which took down Lane Kiffin and LSU last Saturday night in Oxford in a scene of bedlam that catapulted the Rebels into the No. 4 spot in the latest AP Poll.
There is still a long way to go for Ole Miss to earn that Playoff berth, starting with another SEC showdown this Saturday at No. 21 Florida, but for now the Rebels’ Playoff odds got the biggest jump of the week, shooting up by 21% thanks to the LSU win.
Ole Miss now has an overall 40% chance to make the Playoff, according to ESPN Insights, which are currently the 9th-best odds of any team in the country.
About that bad news regarding SEC teams? Also not surprisingly, that would be LSU, whose bitter loss in Oxford dropped the Tigers’ Playoff odds by a whopping 22%, so the result of that game had almost exactly an inverse reaction in the updated Playoff odds. LSU is now 14th overall in Playoff odds, with those odds plummeting to 28% through Week 3.
With Texas currently holding the best Playoff odds at 85%, its Lone Star State rival, Texas A&M, saw its Playoff odds dip by a remarkable 36% following a shocking home loss to Kentucky last Saturday.
Here are ESPN’s full updated Playoff odds after a memorable Week 3:
While the ESPN odds say 1 thing about which teams have the best shot to make the Playoff through Week 3, the Kalshi market is saying something else. Here is what that Kalshi market is telling fans right now going into Week 4 about which teams have the inside track to be among the fortunate 12 who make the Playoff:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
