Ole Miss vs. Miami, Oregon vs. Indiana; Semifinal Playoff Predictions

The College Football Playoff Semifinals kickoff Thursday with an electric matchup as the Ole Miss Rebs square off with the Miami Hurricane, and continues Friday as the Indiana Hoosiers take on the Oregon Ducks. Both games are at 6:30 P.M. Central and will be broadcast by E-S-P-N. NIce matchups, though I know Alabama fans are disappointed with the effort against the Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl last Thursday, 1/1/26. Ty Simpson has decided to go out for the 2026 NFL Draft in April, so consensus 4 star transfer Austin Mack, out of the University of Washington, where he came from in 2024, and consensus 5 star Keelon Russell, out of Duncanville, Texas will battle for QB1 at the University. Russell was a 2025, 100, 5 star by 247 Sports and a 99 by On3, of the Rivals/On3 Network. So, nice choices to have battling it out for Alabama. There are also two, 4 stars coming in: dude from Iowa and a cat from Honolulu The Hawaiian was a three star by a couple of services, but 247 has him listed as a 90, four star. They’ll probably battle for backup roles. The spring will be interesting in Tuscaloosa as Kalen DeBoar will try to have to figure out how to get his teams playing much more consistent football in 2026. Like do a 180. The offensive line will have only one returning starter in right tackle Michael Carroll, but that might be a good thing, though left tackle Kadyn Proctor, a 99, 5 star out of high school out in Iowa, and 4 star center Parker Brailsford, a Washington transfer, were both good players. They are both heading to the NFL Draft. The others are out of eligibility and trying out for the draft or transferred. So there will be re-tooling up front.

Alex Golesh is already making his mark at Auburn. He’s brought in some receivers from South Florida, his former employer, and just brought in 4-star transfer quarterback Byron Brown from USF as well. Very nice upgrade for the Tigers at QB, though Ashton Daniels played well at the end of this season for the Tigers. However he transferred to FSU. Still think Auburn got the better end of that deal. Golesh has lost several players in the portal, including prolific wide receiver Cam Coleman, but Golesh has a lot of energy and the financial support is tremendous with approximately $30 million to work with. That can get you a lot of transfers. So it appears Auburn is heading in the right direction. I’ve heard Coach Golesh in interviews and he’s sharp. Auburn looks to have done well with Golesh, at least from the early returns.

Back to the semis, there should be some riveting college football Thursday and Friday, and with the NFL Playoffs coming up this weekend also, this football weekend will be terrific. The NFL Wild Card Round commences Saturday and continues through Monday with 6 games on tap. Can Bryce Young and the Panthers knock off the 10 1/2 point favorite Rams? It’ll be tough, but Carolina has a very good team, and should have won the division outright last Saturday at Tampa if it wasn’t for some pathetically bad calls by the officiating crew. Also, I don’t know if you stayed up for the Ravens-Steelers game Sunday Night, but it was so tough to see Coach John Harbaugh, Derrick “O’Neal” Henry and the Ravens go down after a beyond spectacular catch by tight end Isaiah Likely, in which he leapt four feet in the air and pulled down Lamar’s pass on fourth and seven with the game in its final seconds setting up the kicker for the game winning, what should have been a chip shot 44 yard field goal for NFL kickers. But the rookie kicker, Tyler Loop, a rookie from Zona, was gag city and pushed the kick to the right as time expired allowing the Steelers to win and clinch the division and “matriculate” to the playoffs, while the Ravens were heartbreakingly done for the season. It cost Coach Harbaugh his job, which is a shame. But maybe he needed a break from Lamar. He’ll get a shot somewhere else. The New York Giants are a potential suitor, among others.

Auburn lost a tough one last night in basketball to A&M and the prolific Bucky McMillan with a last second Auburn three, that would have won the game for the Tigers, called no basket upon review. I had called it a night, so didn’t see it, but it sounded extremely close. Coach McMillan said afterwards the officials missed the out of bounds pass before that and didn’t take any time off the clock, so the call was justified. Depends on if you’re an Aggie or a Tiger. Tough for Coach Steven Pearl and the Tigers. They are a good team, but have just run up on some tough luck so far, at Athens last Saturday in overtime, and in the final seconds at the Jungle last night vs A&M.

The No.13 Crimson Tide takes on the No.11 Vanderbilt Commodores in Memorial Coliseum in Nashvegas at 8 P.M. CT on ESPN2. I Will stay up for this one. Should be captivating.

Here are previews and predictions for the College Football Semifinal Games Thursday and Friday.

2025 Bowl game record: Straight up: 11-7; ATS: 11-7; Over/Under: 14-4.

Overall record in 2025: SU: 172-57, 75%, ATS: 107-122, 47%; O/U: 122-107, 53%.

Went 1-3 Straight up in the quarters, 2-2 ATS and 4-0 O/U.

Got Miami right straight up, was successful predicting Miami and Ole Miss Against the Spread and had the under for the first three quarter (bounce, Sharpsburg Drive, Bama Golf) games and picked the over for Ole Miss-Georgia. Trinidad took care of the over for me.

One game Thursday and the Other on Friday. All times are Central. All rankings are Playoff Rankings.

Thursday

No.10 Miami (12-2) vs. No.6 Ole Miss (13-1)

Vrbo Fiesta Bowl

State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ., 72,000

6:30 P.M.

ESPN

Chris, Kirk, Holly, Laura

Canes by 3 1/2, 52 1/2

Miami quarterback Carson Beck, the Georgia transfer, has completed 74% of his passes this season for 27 TDs against 10 ints. He has been extremely good the past 5 games completing 104 of 134, 78%, with 12 TDs against only one interception. I don’t trust him all the time, but he has been very good lately. He only threw for 138 yards against Ohio State last New Year’s Eve, 12/31/25, but he threw a TD, was 19 of 26, and he threw no interceptions. Freshman wide receiver Malachi Toney has caught 94 passes for 1,008 yards with 8 TDs, but has fumbled three times in the last two games, so he Has to not fumble for the Canes to do well. Running back Mark Fletcher has rushed for 947 yards and 10, sixes. CJ Daniels is a very good receiver also for the Canes with 42 receptions for 469 and 7, sixes. With all of those excellent offensive numbers, the number one factor in the Hurricanes’ success however, and particularly against A&M and Ohio State in the Playoff, is their lockdown defense. Mr. Akheem Mesidor and Mr. Rueben Bain Jr. are tenacious bookends on the defensive front. Mr. Mesidor has 12 TFLs for -67 yards and 7 sacks for -52. Mr Bain Jr. has 7 1/2 TFLs for -39 and 4 1/2 sacks for -31. Keionte Scott is a tremendous cornerback with 10 TFLs, 3 sacks and he had a 72 yard pick six on Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin in the Cotton Bowl last Wednesday, 12/31/25. So Miami has the studs on both sides of the ball.

With that said, give me Pete, Trinidad, running back Kewan Lacy and the Rebels. Chambliss has passed for 3,660 yards, 21 TDs against only three ints. Lacy has rushed for 1,506 yards and 23 TDs. Chambliss has rushed for 600 more and 8 TDs himself. Pete has the defense playing well. I like the Rebels. Give me America’s Team.

Ole Miss 21, Miami 17

Friday

No.1 Indiana (14-0) vs. No.5 Oregon (13-1)

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, 76,000

6:30 P.M.

ESPN

Sean, Gregory, Molly, Katie

Hoosiers by 3 1/2, 47 1/2

I’ll take Coach Cignetti, quarterback Fernando Mendoza and the super talented and physical Hoosiers. They’re just too much for Oregon. The over/under for how weird Mendoza’s interview will be after the game is 9 out of a scale of 1-10. Thank you may I have the over.

Indiana 28, Oregon 17