Rece Davis predicts Ole Miss as No. 5 seed in College Football Playoff

ESPN College GameDay Podcast hosts Rece Davis and Pete Thamel are in prediction mode, giving us their 12 playoff teams. Davis was early in his rankings but took some time to expand on who he believes will wind up at No. 5 — the Ole Miss Rebels. While many are saying they are a legit Playoff contender, Davis might be higher on them than most.

“I think Lane Kiffin and the Rebels have a sensational season,” Davis said. “Jaxson Dart is back. Depending on how you count it, they’ve got about 20 starters coming back. Dart threw for over 3,300 yards, he can run the ball. They’re good at running back even without [Quinshon] Judkins with Ulysses Bently coming back…

“They’ve got guys coming on the defensive line to help them. Princely Umanmielen from Florida, Walter Nolen — who has a highly-touted recruit — from Texas A&M. That’s where they’ve had their shortfall. Size, power up front. I think Ole Miss is going to have a great year.”

Nobody is ever going to doubt the offensive firepower Ole Miss will be able to produce under Kiffin. Davis even mentioned Henry Parrish as a big-time portal coup for the Rebels, even though he was on the 2023 roster. Parrish moved over to Miami before coming back to Oxford.

All that without mentioning the passing attack, led by Dart and throwing balls to Juice Wells and Tre Harris.

Where Davis is really buying in is the defensive front, the biggest storyline of the offseason for Ole Miss. Kiffin and defensive coordinator Pete Golding got some real talent to play at the line of scrimmage and on paper, have one of the best units in the SEC. Those two guys having a quality year would be immense for the Rebels.

Now, there are a few factors that come with being the five-seed in this edition of the CFP. It means Ole Miss did not win the SEC Championship. Davis did not specify but you have to imagine if they are good enough to be the five-seed, a trip to Atlanta is certainly on the table. After all, Ole Miss has never made the SEC Championship game since its inception in 1992.

A home playoff game would also take place at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, with the top Group of Five program coming into town. What an atmosphere that would produce before potentially facing off against a Power Five champion at a neutral site.