The College Football Playoff committee has a proposal that would be in play no later than the 2025 season to present to the league commissioners this week in Chicago to add eight teams to the present four-team CFP. Under the proposal the six highest-ranked conference champions and the six remaining highest-ranked teams as determined by the CFP selection committee would compose the 12-playoff teams. The top four seeds will have a bye while seeds 5-8 would host seeds 9-12 at their home field. Sporting News said that if this had been in effect this year, Coastal Carolina of the Sun Belt Conference, which finished No. 12 in the CFP rankings last year, would have qualified as the sixth-highest ranked champion instead of Oregon, which won the Pac-12. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Florida, Cincinnati, Georgia, Iowa State and Indiana would have joined Coastal Carolina.
College Baseball
Mississippi State baseball set an NCAA Super Regional record as the Bulldogs drew 14,385 fans to last Saturday’s 9-8 win over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. That is not the MSU attendance record, however, as Ole Miss visited Starkville on April 12, 2014, where a record breaking 15,586 fans showed up. MSU and Notre Dame were tied 1-1 in their Super Regional as I write this column.
The Ole Miss Rebels’ baseball season came to an end in the desert of Arizona this past weekend in the Tucson Super Regionals. The Rebels (45-22) had a good year as they fought through some tough times as one of the best pitchers in the nation in Gunner Hoglund fell victim to an arm injury that sidelined him for the season on May 7. One month before, one of the hottest hitters in the country in Rebels’ Tim Elko tore his ACL but returned on May 1 on his one good leg to hit over .300 for the remainder of the season with seven home runs and two grand slams.
Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzales and Southern Miss outfielder Reed Trimble were named to the Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-American team. Jackson State’s Chenar Brown also made the team.
Football coaches hit the road
Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach was touring the state last week on the annual Roads Dawgs Tour. Leach was excited about this upcoming football season and also having fans back in the stands. “We had a very good and enthusiastic spring. The other thing was I was impressed with how much these players improved in just a few months between the season and spring,” said Leach. The Bulldogs were one of the youngest teams in the nation during the 2020 season.
Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin traveled through Mississippi on his first Rebels Road Trip this week. Kiffin talked about his new assistant coaches, the transfer portal, the Rebels’ record-breaking offense and how they plan to improve the defense. Two-sport athlete John Rhys Plumlee and Kiffin were to meet after the Rebels’ baseball season ended to discuss his future. Plumlee plays outfield for the Rebels baseball team and began his football career at Ole Miss as a quarterback.
All-American Ole Miss Rebel receiver Elijah Moore is turning heads in the Big Apple. The New York press lauded Moore for his work ethic and knowledge of the passing game in praising the second round draft choice of the New York Jets.
JUCO
Holmes Community College Women’s Soccer team finished second in the nation as they fell to Phoenix, 2-1, in the final seconds of the National Championship game. Holmes also won the MACCC championship and Region 23 title. The Jones College ladies went 2-1 in the same NJCAA National Tournament in Evans, Georgia, and also fell to Phoenix (15-0) in third round action. The Jones College Bobcats traveled to Wichita, Kansas, for the men’s NJCAA National Tournament and finished with a 1-1 mark.
