rebmus

State is almost a lock to host at this point... MAYBE be a high 2 seed and missing out IF they get swept next weekend but I still think they'd host. Ole Miss staying in the hosting discussion helps MSU a lot, I don't see any scenario where Ole Miss hosts while MSU doesn't when MSU is 4-0 head to head this season and has (worst case scenario) basically the same record as Ole Miss. Being a top 8 is still on the table... definitely have to win the next series if not sweep to get it. Ole Miss is back in the hosting discussion... most likely needs to win the series next weekend to get a host bid... I don't think 1 more win will get it. Of course, a deep SECT run by either team will help the chances if the above doesn't pan it... it's much nicer to already be basically locked in before the SECT. IF the season ended today, I'd bet on MSU and USM hosting with Ole Miss as a 2 seed at USM. I'm not sure the NCAA will award all 3 a host bid unless it's just too obvious all 3 earned it. IF next weekend ends with MSU winning 1, Ole Miss winning 2, and USM losing 2... it's MSU/Ole Miss hosting while USM falls to a 2 seed at Oxford or Starkville... likely Oxford. I hope all 3 sweep next weekend and all 3 host for the first time in the same year... great exposure for the state.

I'd be surprised if 16 SEC wins doesn't get a hosting bid, 17 is definitely a lock with a shot (depending on what else happens) of getting a top 8 seed.

State and Ole Miss (along with Auburn, Oklahoma, and Florida) tied for 4th in the SEC with a 10-8 conference record. Both teams are back in good position to host with a decent finish with a shot to be a top 8 with a strong finish. The schedule ahead for Ole Miss remains brutal, I haven't looked at MSU's but I suspect it's pretty dang brutal also.

Out of the "Big 3" sports, baseball is easily the most unpredictable sport. When a good team gets hot, they can quickly become a great team. When a great team goes cold, they can quickly become a good team. Baseball can be so streaky and turn the other direction at any point of the season.

State may well be a really really good team this year... then again, Ole Miss may be not so good. I lean towards State is indeed a top 8 team and set up to host a SR while Ole Miss is a 2 or 3 seed on the road come tourney time.

I certainly wouldn’t bet against it being the best Ole Miss football season in my lifetime. I paid pretty dearly to go to the Sugar Bowl to see Ole Miss beat Oklahoma State… my dad picked on me for the amount I dropped and I just told him I may never see Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl again. It will be interesting to see how well Ole Miss does with Golding as head coach and new offensive coaches.

#6 entering the playoffs, #3 after the playoffs. Easily the best football showing by Ole Miss in my lifetime... and I'm pretty old.

It's hard to ask for a better start than the three MS teams have had so far. We'll know more about Ole Miss and State after a few weeks of conference play. 15-15 in conference play will get (at least) a 2 seed and has a strong chance of hosting. The SEC schedule is just brutal.

Who knows... seems like pretty much everyone is breaking tampering rules now. Will the NCAA punish Ole Miss? Maybe? Seems like the course with the NCAA is to hire Tom Mars and get a case at a local courthouse... worked for Bama to get a pro basketball player somehow playing at the college level again. Obviously that's different from an NCAA penalty, but still... does the NCAA have any real bite left? Having the early signing period and transfer portal opening while games are still being played is a huge issue the NCAA has failed to address. I have a strong feeling the SEC and Big 10 are close to breaking away from it and starting their own thing anyway and setting things up more like the NFL model.

Contender as in typically in the playoff discussion or contender as typically a top 5 finish? In this new era, I don't see teams dominating top 5 year after year... sometimes the tons of new players from the transfer won't gel well together. Will Indiana average a top 15 finish over the next 6 years (assuming Cig stays... I think he will)? I think so. Will Indiana average a top 5 finish over the next 6 years? I lean nope. On Ole Miss, I like what I saw from Pete in the playoffs... but that sure is a very small sample size (although, on a very huge stage). Next year will tell us more of what to expect with Pete as HC along with a new OC. IF Pete finishes top 3 again next year, almost everyone will forget the hatred of Lane and soak in the love of Pete. That's a VERY HUGE IF.

I don't know 83, Miami has looked pretty dang good lately... as have all of the final 4 teams. Indiana is the biggest story to me. They had more losses entering the 2025 season than every other FBS program... Northwester has more than Indiana after this season. Between the open transfers and NIL, CFB has drastically changed... for the better IMO. Indiana is the poster child of "why not us?" Ole Miss is a lesser example than Indiana, but still a strong example of "why not us?" This was a "rebuilding year" for Ole Miss... pretty much everyone thought (including me) 8-4 or 9-3... depending on how quickly the team gelled and how quickly Simmons matured into the role. Had you told me Simmons would be hurt early and the backup (I couldn't have named Chambliss before the season) would play the remainder of the season... I would have guessed 6 or 7 wins max. Chambliss has to be the biggest surprise player in CFB this year. On Simmons, he's entered the portal... best of luck to him. Great young man with a huge upside, I'll be rooting for him unless it's a game against Ole Miss.

Not a playoff game, Southern Miss lost their bowl game 27-16. One has to wonder how different it may have been had Huff not left for Memphis? Dan Mullen's UNLV team is tied 0-0 in the second quarter. Back to the playoff games next week: 3 of the higher seeds are favored, no surprise there. #5 Oregon is favored over #4 Texas Tech by 1.5 points. Indiana over Bama by 6.5... same for Georgia over Ole Miss. Ohio State is favored by 9.5 over Miami.

Take the top 12 (or 16 if it's expanded) ranked teams and have the playoff. ZERO autobids for anyone... including the SEC and Big10. This year's first round would have been: Miami at Oregon BYU at Ole Miss Notre Dame at A&M Bama at Oklahoma (unchanged) The Oregon and Ole Miss games would have been much better than what we had. Who wins the next round? Shoot, flip a coin on these games. Hopefully we are in for 4 very great games to watch for New Years Eve/Day.

If nothing had changed from the meeting earlier this season, I'd agree. Tulane's head coach (and I think most of the staff) are gone after the season but staying for the playoffs... how much (if any) bearing will that have on this game? I'm betting not much... but it's worth a question. Ole Miss is without their head coach but most of the coaching staff in place for the playoffs with almost all of the defensive coaches returning including the DC now being the head coach. Ole Miss has the talent (I think???) to just beat Tulane IF they don't give up turnovers and make dumb penalties... but we'll see how they perform with the changes in place.

Tulane fans: "We need a coach that won't get hired away!" Tulane AD: "I got you fam!"