Still On Top: No. 1 Ole Miss Eyes 6-0 Start

In football, as in life, very few things are guaranteed. But Ole Miss football’s season performance seems certain to land them a spot in the College Football Playoff. The No. 4 team in the AP Poll and No. 1 in the SEC power rankings, Ole Miss (5-0) is gliding into Saturday’s match against Washington State, looking to capitalize on home-team advantage and remain undefeated.

Even though Ole Miss carries a better record than Washington State (3-2), the Cougars bring a top-30 pass defense and a first-year coach with a new playbook. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin cautioned fans (and players) against writing Saturday’s game off as an easy win. “ This is a really good challenge for us coming off a bye,” Kiffin said. “In college football, you have to come to play every week.”

Key to Saturday’s game will be Ole Miss defense. With the Cougars “throw[ing] the ball really well,” Ole Miss defense will need to be on point. Fittingly, this past bye week was spent refining and sharpening defensive maneuvers.

Ole Miss defensive tackle Will Echoles seems confident that the extra conditioning will help the team remain undefeated. “We’re getting better and better every week,” said Echoles. “We’ve just got to keep improving.”

Kiffin’s intense emphasis on consistency is pushing Ole Miss to the upper echelons of an already talent-packed conference.  

Every SEC team has now played at least one conference game, and the CFP league is starting to take shape. Ole Miss is almost certainly a sure pick.  But in Oxford, Kiffin isn’t interested in mere hype– he’s interested in continued excellence. “[The 5-0 record] really challenge[s] our guys not to listen to the noise about rankings, because none of that means anything until the final week,” Kifflin concluded. This Saturday, we’ll see if Ole Miss can hold onto their streak.

Author contributor Faith Ellington