College football Week 13 overreactions: Lane Kiffin takes on the villain role, Jeremiyah Love shows his worth

Ole Miss did not play football this week, yet the Rebels felt like the center of the college football world. All eyes are on Lane Kiffin as he mulls his coaching future while, at the same time, leading Ole Miss to arguably its greatest season in program history. 

It seems patently absurd that while the Rebels are gearing up for their regular-season finale against top rival Mississippi State and a likely College Football Playoff appearance beyond that, Kiffin is meeting with top brass at Florida and LSU about their coaching vacancies. The noise became so cacophonous that Ole Miss athletic director had to release a statement saying that Kiffin's final decision will come the Saturday after the Egg Bowl. 

Think about that for a minute. An active head coach is on the precipice of abandoning his team before it heads to the biggest stage in the sport for the first time in college football history. 

Pundits and living legends like Nick Saban can blame the athletic calendar all they want -- and it's absolutely something that needs fixing -- but the simple truth of the matter is that Kiffin cannot help himself. Not only is he the biggest villain in college football, Kiffin actually wants to be the biggest villain in college football. 

His entire persona is built around grabbing attention and manufacturing interest. He craves the spotlight. It's why he's treating this whole process like he's a five-star recruit leading schools on until national signing day, cryptic Tweets of daily affirmations and all. 

Kiffin doesn't care if you love him or hate him. Kiffin doesn't care about Ole Miss, or what the fans will think if he leaves the Rebels out to dry. 

He just cares that you're watching and if controversy is the easiest path to get eyes on him, controversy is what Kiffin will create. 

Tom Fornelli's CFP Vibe Check, Week 13: Even in a 'big' win, James Madison feels like a Saturday loser

Tom Fornelli

Lincoln Riley is an overpaid Clay Helton 

USC spent over $10 million to fire Clay Helton four years ago and then dumped over $100 million into hiring... Clay Helton. Well, not exactly. Lincoln Riley and Clay Helton are not biologically the same person.

But they're delivering similar results. Riley completed his 51st game with the Trojans yesterday. They were eliminated from College Football Playoff contention in a 42-27 loss to No. 7 Oregon. 

That brought Riley's record at USC to 34-17. Helton's record in that same timeframe, not counting his year as USC's interim coach? It was 34-17. 

In fact, there's an argument to be made that Helton did a better job. He at least delivered USC a Pac-12 title and a win in the Rose Bowl during his tenure. Riley went to a Pac-12 Championship Game, and lost, and he also lost to Tulane in the only New Year's Six bowl that he's led the Trojans to. 

BYU is a playoff lock 

No. 11 BYU, quietly, has one of the best playoff résumés as the end of the regular season approaches. Smack an SEC or Big Ten logo on their jerseys and there's no doubt that the selection committee would rank the Cougars as a top-10 team, without question. 

They should be a lock for the 12-team field anyway. BYU went on the road in Week 13 and beat a good Cincinnati team 26-14. With that, the Cougars now have wins over 9-2 Utah, 8-3 Arizona and four teams with a 7-4 record. 

Their strength of record ranks sixth in the country, per ESPN's FPI, which ranks ahead of Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas Tech and Notre Dame. For those that like to use the strength of schedule argument which, unlike strength of record, does not account for the actual results of games played, BYU still lands at a respectable 28th. 

That's better than Ole Miss, Texas Tech and Notre Dame. It's also better than fellow bubble teams like Michigan and Miami. The Cougars have won three of their last four conference games by at least two possessions, so they pass the eye test. 

By every conceivable metric, BYU is a playoff team. It should beat UCF to close the regular season and then it should be playing in the first round, regardless of what happens in the Big 12 Championship Game. 

Jeremiyah Love is the most important player in college football 

No single player means more to his team than Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. No quarterback even comes close to matching the singular impact that Love has for the Fighting Irish. 

He could -- and, honestly, has -- singlehandedly win games for his team. Take Notre Dame's Week 13 win against Syracuse, for example. It helps that the Fighting Irish opened a 21-0 lead before the offense even took a snap, but they went on to put 70 points on the board while their quarterback threw for a combined 67 yards. The whole game. 

Love had 171 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries. He scored on almost half of his touches before Notre Dame decided to shut him down for the evening. 

In Notre Dame's two ranked wins against USC and Pittsburgh, Love rushed for a combined 375 yards and two touchdowns on just under eight yards per carry. He had 92 more yards rushing (228) than Notre Dame had passing against the Trojans. 

That's Heisman Trophy level stuff, especially since Love is carrying Notre Dame to a repeat playoff appearance. 

Never expect anything of Illinois again 

This was billed as one of the biggest seasons in Illinois' history. Certainly, the Fighting Illini had a greater preseason outlook than they're used to. They landed at No. 12 in the initial AP Top 25 poll and then climbed to No. 9 amid a 4-0 start to the year. 

They were once lauded as a Big Ten dark horse, ready to run with the conference's big dogs, and a College Football Playoff appearance was absolutely on the table. And then things fell apart. 

Illinois lost 63-10 to Indiana in its first conference test. Those 63 points are the most that a top-10 Big Ten team has ever allowed. 

It's been downhill from there. Illinois is 3-4 since that 4-0 start and it hit rock bottom in Week 13's loss to a rudderless Wisconsin. This iteration is worse than the Illinois we saw last year, even though a lot of the same faces are back. 

Illinois hit its peak as a modern program before the year began. It's doubtful the Illini ever climb that high again.