Not too long ago, ESPN Insider KC Joyner took a look at the 11 teams that have the most realistic shot at making the College Football Playoff this upcoming season. Alabama and Tennessee were the only two SEC teams on that list.
On Monday, he put together a rundown of the seven teams that were closest to making that 11-team cut as a legit CFP contender, but had just enough flaws to fall short. This is where Ole Miss comes into play.
It has zero chance to make the playoffs in 2016, according to Joyner.
“The Rebels are coming off of their first 10-win season since 2003 and their 19 wins over the past two years is a mark tied for the second highest two-year win total in school history,” wrote Joyner. “That would make it seem that the next step toward national title contention is in the works, but the reality is this program will likely take a backward step in 2016.”
ESPN’s latest FPI rankings currently have Ole Miss at No. 7 overall, but ranks the Rebels’ schedule as the second-most difficult in the nation and projects an eight-win season with just a .2 percent chance to finish 12-0 and the fifth-best odds to win the conference (6.5 percent).
In 2015, Ole Miss ended up No. 10 in the final AP Top 25 poll, which is the program’s best finish since the 1969 season.
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
