When Ole Miss lost to Alabama, I wrote off any idea that Lane Kiffin’s squad could seriously contend for a Playoff spot. With the path to Atlanta seemingly blocked, it seemed fair to assume that any chance at reaching the final 4 faded with Nick Saban humbling his former offensive coordinator.

But on Saturday night’s broadcast of Ole Miss-Tennessee, Tom Hart and Jordan Rodgers discussed the idea of having a path to the Playoff. Think about it. It’s a 1-loss team that has a decent chance of being favored in every remaining game, and if it isn’t (Oct. 30 at Auburn is a coin flip), it’ll at least have a decent chance of winning every game.

(We’re assuming that Matt Corral isn’t facing a long-term injury after taking roughly 6 million hits on keepers against Tennessee. Lane Kiffin said that he’s questionable for Saturday against LSU.)

In a year in which chaos seems to be the theme, it’s not so crazy to think Ole Miss still has an outside shot to make the field with 1-loss, even without a division or conference title.

For the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that Alabama wins its remaining regular-season games and Ole Miss cannot get to Atlanta. That’s the most likely outcome, so it only makes sense to work within those confines.

(It might actually help Ole Miss to not have to play Georgia.)

Here are the realistic things that would need to happen for Ole Miss to earn its first Playoff berth:

1. Do the 2020 Texas A&M thing … but better

By “the 2020 Texas A&M thing,” I mean suffer an early-season loss to Alabama and then win out. Duh. That’s the only thing that matters if you’re Kiffin. What would help Ole Miss in that discussion would be continuing to post a top-5 offense and pick up the style points that A&M didn’t get.

Last year, it felt like the Aggies were punished because they didn’t win games with a high-octane passing offense. It was the ground game and solid defense that fueled A&M.

The Aggies dominated time of possession, and to those who actually watched, it was clear how much they controlled each game. For Ole Miss, we know the offense can hold up its end of the bargain there, but can the defense? Saturday night’s performance against Tennessee was a step in the right direction. Holding a confident group to just 26 points was a major win after 2 bad showings on that side of the ball.

But it would help if Ole Miss could follow in A&M’s footsteps by ending the season with something like 6 consecutive wins by double figures. Doing that in the SEC West would put the college football world on notice (more on that in a minute).

2. Cincinnati has to lose

I believe that an unbeaten Cincinnati isn’t getting left out of the Playoff. Beating Notre Dame on the road by double figures and really dominating that game was a loud statement. The AP Top 25 isn’t everything, but being at No. 2 at this point of the season is absolutely significant. There’s now a path for a Group of 5 team to finally make the Playoff.

Of course, a Cincinnati loss would completely wipe that away.

The Bearcats will be significant favorites the rest of the way, but they do have 6-0 SMU still on the schedule, and an emerging Houston squad could potentially await the Bearcats in the AAC Championship. It’s by no means a lock that the Bearcats will run the table, as impressive as they’ve been.

That’s perhaps the most realistic path as opposed to hoping for a bunch of 2-loss conference champs. Yes, obviously it would help if Oregon lost another game, or if Oklahoma lost twice. If Cincinnati doesn’t lose, though, I can’t imagine a world in which you’d see 2 SEC teams, a Group of team and another Power 5 champ. Leaving out 3 Power 5 leagues will probably never happen with a 4-team field.

If the Bearcats don’t lose, there really isn’t much of a chance for Ole Miss.

3. Georgia dominates Alabama in SEC title game

Alabama has the ability to block Ole Miss’ path to the Playoff. Clearly. The Tide looked like the superior team in Tuscaloosa. That cloud is going to loom over Ole Miss in any Playoff argument. The only way that cloud can start to dissipate is if the Tide get rolled by UGA in Atlanta for loss No. 2. Whether that’s fair or not, the selection committee has shown that it compares 1-loss teams to 1-loss teams.

Alabama getting smoked by Georgia would show that perhaps the Tide regressed and they really didn’t get better post-Ole Miss. I mean, if Alabama lost twice after the Ole Miss game with 1 coming to an unranked foe and the other coming in blowout fashion … isn’t there an argument that they were different teams than the ones who faced off in early-October?

By the way, only 1 of Alabama’s 106 games in the Playoff era ended with a loss of 14 points or more. And it was the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship against that historically good Clemson team. A 1-loss Ole Miss team would certainly appreciate it if 2021 Georgia could follow in those footsteps.

4. The West has 5 ranked teams on Selection Sunday

Heading into Week 8, the West has 4 ranked teams (No. 4 Alabama, No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 17 Texas A&M and No. 19 Auburn) and 2 in the “others receiving votes” category (Arkansas is No. 28 and LSU is somehow No. 38). Ole Miss is going to need at least 3 wins against teams that are in the Top 25 of the Playoff Poll on Selection Sunday.

The key there is somehow getting A&M, Auburn and Arkansas all in the Top 25. Ole Miss still has to play A&M and Auburn, while Arkansas still has Alabama on the schedule. Is it possible that A&M, Auburn and Arkansas could all be 8-4 and in the Top 25? Yes.

In the final Playoff Poll in 2019, there were 3 teams with 4 losses. In 2018, there were 7 (!) teams with at least 4 losses in the final Playoff Poll. So yes, that could happen. It would help if Louisville, who Ole Miss dismantled in the opener, could also get to 8-4 and sneak into the Top 25.

If Ole Miss is gonna become the first non-Notre Dame team to miss a conference championship game since 2017 Alabama, it’ll need all the help it can get. That still might not be enough.

But in a year that’s feeling more and more chaotic with each passing Saturday, don’t dismiss any 1-loss Power 5 team just yet.