CFP predictions: Will the Selection Committee reward Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss for Georgia beat down?

Ole Miss, welcome back to the College Football Playoff discussion. After dropping in the rankings due to some crushing losses, Lane Kiffin and the Rebels ran over Arkansas last weekend, then followed that up with an extremely convincing win against then-No. 3 Georgia.

The AP Poll rewarded that statement win by moving Ole Miss into the top 10 — tenth, to be exact — and actually having the Rebels jump the Georgia Bulldogs, who fell to No. 11.

And while the AP Poll is always going to hold weight, teams are more closely paying attention to the rankings that will determine their postseason fates; the CFP rankings. Last week, Ole Miss was ranked No. 16 in the CFP poll and beating Georgia will vault them up those rankings.

But exactly how much will the rankings value the Rebels win against Georgia? Does an early-season loss against Kentucky still weigh on the minds of the faceless, shapeless entity known as the Selection Committee? Or will the committee view that as a fluke game, and give Ole Miss the benefit of the doubt after its best win of the season?

Prediction: Ole Miss jumps to No. 11 in the CFP Rankings

The reality falls between those two, but closer to "benefit of the doubt." Ole Miss is a very good football team, and it would be pretty shocking not to see the Rebels jump at least into the top 12 on Tuesday. LSU — the team directly in front of Ole Miss — lost to Alabama, so Ole Miss will easily leapfrog the Tigers.

Alabama, Boise State, SMU and Texas A&M are ranked No. 11, 12, 13 and 14 right now, respectively. Boise State struggled with Nevada while SMU and Texas A&M were both on byes. Ole Miss should easily jump those three teams as well, putting the team at No. 12 at least. The Crimson Tide won convincingly against LSU so they will undoubtedly march back into the top 10.

Then comes the question of whether the Selection Committee is willing to move Ole Miss ahead of both Georgia and Miami. The short answer? Probably not. I do see Ole Miss leaping Miami, which suffered its first loss of the season and turned its near-lock status a little more questionable with just a few weeks left in the regular season. While it would be silly to move a one-loss Miami all the way out of the top 12 the Hurricanes looked pretty bad this weekend and will pay the price for that in the rankings.

But I don't predict the CFP poll will be as harsh to Georgia as the AP Poll was, and would be somewhat surprised if Ole Miss leaps Georgia in the CFP rankings. Should they be ahead of Georgia? That's up for debate — they did beat them, after all and recency bias is real. But Georgia's only other loss coming to Alabama while Ole Miss lost to Kentucky might stop the Selection Committee from fully tanking Georgia's ranking yet. There's a chance these two teams are neck-and-neck in the CFP rankings just like the AP Poll.

Out of nowhere, the Rebels are on the precipice of a College Football Playoff appearance thanks to a massive win this weekend. Expect the committee to give them some love and put them right on the edge of the field of 12.