Florida upsets Ole Miss, shifts College Football Playoff landscape

After coming in at No. 9 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, Ole Miss had a small margin of error entering Saturday’s game against Florida. The Rebels had to avoid the dreaded third loss to stay in contention for the 12-team bracket, but that path ran through the hostile environment in Gainesville.

Ultimately, it was the Gators who came out on top. And just like that, the CFP landscape took another major shift.

Ole Miss at Florida was one of two games with major CFP implications in Week 13. The other was in Columbus where Ohio State rallied to defeat Indiana handily, leading to questions about how far the Hoosiers will fall in Tuesday’s rankings reveal.

IU could still stay in the bracket, though, with just the one loss to No. 2 Ohio State. But for Ole Miss, a loss to Florida could turn into a knockout punch.

Although they were the No. 9-ranked team, the Rebels were the No. 10-seeded team in the projected 12-team bracket. Only Georgia was seeded lower at No. 11 as an at-large team. BYU, as the projected Big 12 champion, took the No. 12 seed despite being ranked at No. 14.

With the No. 5 and No. 9-ranked teams both going down, there are sure to be more shifts come Tuesday night. That’s just during the early window of games, too.

How it happened: Florida stuns Ole Miss

Florida struck first after forcing an Ole Miss turnover on downs as DJ Lagway connected with Elijhah Badger in the back of the end zone to take a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. However, the Rebels responded with back-to-back touchdown drives to jump out in front, 14-7, before UF tied it up at 14-14 heading into halftime.

Florida took a 17-14 lead in the third quarter on a 53-yard field goal from Trey Smack, and Ole Miss knotted it back up on a field goal of its own from Caden Davis. That 17-17 score held until the fourth quarter when Montrell Johnson – on his Senior Day – took a direct snap into the end zone to put the Gators back on top, 24-17.

Ole Miss had opportunities to get the lead back, but a Jaxson Dart interception in the end zone gave Florida the ball back with a chance to drain the clock. Lane Kiffin still had all his timeouts, though, and the Rebels took over with 1:03 to go.

However, Dart threw another interception, meaning Florida held on for the win. The upset dropped Ole Miss 8-3 on the season – and, effectively, dashed the Rebels’ College Football Playoff hopes.