College Football Playoff picks: Ole Miss is last hope for SEC to reach first title game in 3 years

No pressure, Mississippi, but the Southeastern Conference hasn't gone three years without a football national championship since the turn of the century.

The sixth-seeded Rebels are the SEC's last hope in the College Football Playoff after Georgia and Alabama lost in the quarterfinals. They will play for a spot in the national championship game when they meet No. 10 seed Miami at the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday.

Big Ten teams won the last two national titles — 2023 Michigan and 2024 Ohio State — and with No. 1 Indiana matched against No. 5 Oregon in the Peach Bowl on Friday, the conference is assured of being represented in the championship game again.

The last SEC team to play for it all was Georgia, which hammered TCU 65-7 in 2022 for its second straight title and the conference's fourth in a row.

The ''It Just Means More'' conference hasn't gone three years without a title since a four-year stretch from 1999-2002.

LSU won the Bowl Championship Series title game in 2003 but shared the title with Southern California. From 2006-22, the SEC won 13 of 17 championships and had at least one team in the title game all but one year.

The picks, with seedings and lines from BetMGM Sportsbook:

The Rebels (13-1) are as much a feel-good story as Indiana, maybe even more. The plot: Coach (Lane Kiffin) ditches team for a job with a conference rival (LSU), new coach (Pete Golding) opens his tenure with two playoff victories and several assistants stay on while moonlighting at LSU during the playoff run. Oh, and the star of the team (QB Trinidad Chambliss) is a transfer from Division II Ferris State. All this has galvanized the Rebels.

Against Miami, the challenge will be keeping Chambliss upright. The Hurricanes (12-2) have a combined 12 sacks in playoff wins over Texas A&M and Ohio State, and lead the nation with 46. The Rebels have kept Chambliss mostly clean, allowing just one sack in three games since Florida got to him five times on Nov. 15.

Miami QB Carson Beck has shaken off his interception issue with offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson's emphasis on spreading around short passes. Beck has thrown just one interception in the last six games; he was picked off nine times in the first eight.

Pick: Mississippi 28-27.

No. 1 Indiana (minus 3 1/2) vs. No. 5 Oregon

Much attention is paid to Indiana's offense with Fernando Mendoza leading the way. He is going to have to be sharp against an Oregon defense that has improved its pass coverage since the first meeting. The Ducks flummoxed Behren Morton in the 23-0 quarterfinal win over Texas Tech.

This game will be close, and the Hoosiers have the more consistent defense. Remember, James Madison found a way to move the ball against Oregon in the first round, and the Hoosiers have the Heisman Trophy winner in Mendoza.

The Hoosiers intercepted Dante Moore twice and sacked him six times in the first meeting, and they've recorded eight sacks and allowed just 13 points in two playoff games.

Pick: Indiana 23-19.

AP predictions scorecard

Season straight up — 195-64; Against spread — 125-133-1.

____