The New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day combination brought us 4 College Football Playoff quarterfinal games, with 2 instant classics with Miami upsetting Ohio State and Ole Miss upsetting Georgia and a couple of snoozers with Big Ten powerhouses Oregon and No. 1 Indiana winning in blowouts over Texas Tech and Alabama.
Vegas oddsmakers dropped the first odds for the CFP Semifinals, tabbing Ole Miss as the favorite over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday, January 8, and Indiana as the favorite over Oregon in the Peach Bowl on Friday, January 9.
The CFP National Championship Game is January 19 in Miami.
“Opening Vegas lines for the CFP semifinals: Miami -3 vs. Ole Miss, Indiana -4 vs. Oregon,” Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger wrote on X on Friday, January 2.
Path to CPF Semifinals for Ole Miss
No team will be in the headlines more than Ole Miss in the next week leading up to the CFP semifinals for the sheer audacity of them being there.
The reason for the buzz comes from former head coach Lane Kiffin leaving before the playoffs to become the head coach at LSU on a 7-year, $91 million contract. The Rebels hired defensive coordinator Pete Golding after Kiffin took the job at LSU.
The bigger twist comes with the Transfer Portal opening on January 2 and Kiffin almost certainly set to go after some of the best players on the Ole Miss roster and a handful of former Ole Miss assistants supposed to join him at LSU following the Sugar Bowl win over Georgia.
“Sources told ESPN on Thursday night that it remained unclear how many Ole Miss assistants, who are joining Kiffin at LSU, will be allowed to remain with the Rebels when they face No. 10 Miami next Thursday in a CFP semifinal,” ESPN’s Mark Schlabach wrote on January 2. “Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., tight ends coach/co-offensive coordinator Joe Cox, wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator George McDonald and running backs coach Kevin Smith have all signed contracts to coach with Kiffin at LSU. With the transfer portal opening Friday, sources told ESPN that the Rebels aren’t certain they will have all of those assistants with them when they play the Hurricanes in six days. A source said some of the assistants have apparently pushed back on leaving an Ole Miss team that is two victories away from winning a national championship.”
Pair of Teams Trying for First National Titles
For historical purposes, this could be a pretty incredible year for college football.
Indiana is the only undefeated team of the 4 and could be the first modern college football team to go 16-0 if they win the national championship. The Hoosiers won their first Big Ten title since 1967 this season and have never played for a national championship.
Ole Miss has won one national championship, sharing the title with Minnesota in 1960.
Oregon has never won a national title and played for the national championship twice, losing both times. The Ducks lost to Auburn following the 2010 season and losing to Ohio State following the 2014 season.
Miami has won 5 national championships, including 4 from 1983 to 1991. The Hurricanes won their last national championship following the 2001 with a team that featured 38 NFL draft picks and is considered one of the greatest college football teams of all time.
Oddsmakers Pick Favorites for College Football Playoff Semifinals