We were ranked 1 when we lost to Bama. We dropped to 4. Then we slaughtered our next opponent and stayed at 4. Had we beat Ole Miss, the committee was going to have to choose between a 1 loss Mississippi State by 5 to New Number 1 Alabama or 1 loss Ohio State who I believe has been blown out in their 1 loss. Nevermind that Ohio State proved they deserved to be in by winning the whole thing. There is no way of knowing whether State would have done the same thing had they finished Regular Season 11-1 with only loss to #1 and SEC champ Alabama.
Amazing the opportunity that was right in front of Mullen that year!