Can Ole Miss make the College Football Playoff? Game-by-game picks for rest of season

They keep popping up. For as much as the college football world wants to bury the Ole Miss Rebels for suffering a second SEC loss to LSU after having been upset by Kentucky previously, they still control their own College Football Playoff destiny to some extent. According to ESPN's FPI rankings, Ole Miss has a 22-percent chance to make the playoff entering its Week 9 home game vs. Oklahoma.

This is significant because only 24 teams in FBS have better than a 10-percent shot at getting in at this juncture. Ole Miss finds itself in a group of 15 teams with a 10-percent chance or better of getting in, but less than 50 percent. The Rebels are very much on the bubble right now. That being said, I think they might be the "worst" team who can win a single playoff game should they qualify.

As I forecast what could happen with its schedule going forward, it is going to come down to the wire.

While I do not envision Ole Miss beating Georgia at home, I would think the Rebels would get in at 10-2 (6-2) with a stunning home upset of the Dawgs. They need to win all of their other remaining games too, but the one in Oxford in a few weeks will determine if this team can get in. Georgia is in an advantageous position to where the 6-1 Dawgs could afford two more losses and would still get in.

At 10-2 (6-2), Ole Miss would potentially get in because of the Georgia win, but what about at 9-3?

How likely is Ole Miss to make the College Football Playoff this season?

I have to be honest, I struggle to see any scenario in which Ole Miss can get in without a home win over Georgia. Should Georgia go 10-2 (6-2) as well, yes, Ole Miss would have to get in, right? They would have identical records and Ole Miss would own the head-to-head tiebreaker. To me, beating the Dawgs would be impressive enough to overcome the tough home loss previously to Kentucky.

However, we have to wonder if a 9-3 (5-3) Ole Miss team can still get in with a home win over Georgia, but a loss elsewhere. It cannot be to arch rival Mississippi State, as that team is currently 1-6. As far as if it can happen to their other three opponents, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Florida are all still technically alive for the playoff at 4-3. Florida may have the edge because they lack any brutal losses.

At that point, you are playing with fire. The hope would be that either Arkansas, Florida or Oklahoma could somehow finish the year at 8-4. If Florida does that, the Gators actually have an outside shot at making the playoff. Arkansas won't and neither would Oklahoma. All things equal, a Georgia win and a Florida loss may put Ole Miss right at the cutoff mark as either the No. 11, No. 13 or No. 14 team in.

Truth be told, the only semi-realistic way Ole Miss can make the playoff is if the Rebels beat Georgia at home, but the Dawgs win their four other remaining games. At that point, you may need teams on the brink of elimination like Alabama and Missouri to fade, as well as someone like a Tennessee or a Texas A&M to be revealed as fraudulent. Ole Miss and Georgia could get in with LSU and Texas then.

Any sliver of hope for Ole Miss to make the playoff hinges entirely on the Rebels beating the Dawgs.