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The latest edition of College Football Playoff rankings gave viewers better insight into how the final 12-team field will shape up. As expected, there were some schools that were happy with their position in the standings, and others that weren’t.
Three SEC programs battled for what could be the final spot in the postseason tournament. Alabama received the highest ranking of the football trio, leaving Ole Miss and South Carolina on the outside looking in.
Each made its case for inclusion in the days leading up to the rankings release. A decision would come down to the committee’s view of each argument.
All three schools finished the year at 9-3. Alabama boasts the best metrics in terms of strength of schedule and strength of record. They also lost to Vanderbilt in October while also falling in embarrassing fashion to Oklahoma just two weeks ago.
Ole Miss is in a similar boat. Like the Crimson Tide, they own a win over Georgia but boast an unforgiveable loss to Kentucky. Still, the Rebels were outscored by a combined 13 points in their three defeats. All came down to one score!
South Carolina’s football team had no bad losses. It did, however, lose straight up to both Ole Miss and Alabama. After falling to the Crimson Tide, the Gamecocks went on a six-game win streak capped by a takedown of instate rival Clemson.
Despite being, arguably, the hottest team in the nation at the time of the selection, South Carolina had an uphill battle given those head-to-head results. But that might not have mattered had things gone differently in their other defeat.
A large majority of Gamecock fans believe they had a win against LSU stolen from them by poor officiating. South Carolina had two pick-sixes wiped off the board, as well as a two-point conversion and its longest pass of the second half.
Many of those were judgement calls. They all went LSU’s way. In the end, the Gamecocks fell 36-33 after missing a game-tying field goal as time expired.
— BRANDON (@gamecocks3345) November 12, 2024
Calls for the removal of the head official in that contest immediately surfaced after the fact. That man is Jason Autrey, and he’s been involved in a number of controversial moments throughout his officiating career.
His crew cost Arkansas a win over Auburn with a botched call on a Bo Nix spike. They were criticized for a defensive pass interference call in 2022 Alabama-Tennessee that reversed a near-pick six for the Crimson Tide. Alabama was up 49-42 at the time and would’ve been pushing for a two-score fourth quarter lead. They lost, 52-49 (to Autrey’s delight?).
Autrey has admittedly never played a down of organized football. He started out working middle school games before making his way into the SEC.
His crews have been accused of ‘over-officiating’ as they influence games by calling boatloads of penalties as opposed to letting players compete on the field. Lane Kiffin spoke on that fact after racking up 10 flags in a 2022 game vs. LSU.
“As players, you’ve got to understand stadiums you play in and (officiating) crews that you have. There are certain crews that officiate differently…”
-Lane Kiffin
Jason Autrey’s crew makes themselves a part of the game when other referees make it a point to stay out of the spotlight. It might’ve cost South Carolina a chance at the College Football Playoff!
Again, going back to those resumes, the Gamecocks lost to both Ole Miss and Alabama. Head-to-head might not have mattered had the LSU loss been a win. South Carolina would’ve had a 10-2 overall record. In all likelihood, that gets them into the field.
When Shane Beamer’s bunch was omitted from the 12-team field in the latest College Football Playoff projection, a petition to have Jason Autrey fired resurfaced. And it gained a lot of support!
Over the last 24 hours, the petition has doubled in signatures. It surpassed its goal of 1,000 names on Thursday morning.
Unfortunately, it probably won’t do much to ease the minds of those upset fans. Whether you believe the rulings to be right or wrong, the Gamecocks are missing the playoff field. The SEC has already doubled down on its defense of Autrey and Co. The petition won’t change a thing.