Ole Miss’ hopes of making the College Football Playoffs got sucked down into the The Swamp.

No. 9 Ole Miss failed to score on three red zone possessions and turned the ball over three times — including on its last two drives — and lost 24-17 to Florida on Saturday.

“Obviously a lot was at stake, and we didn’t come through,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “A lot of missed opportunities.”

It was a devastating loss for the Rebels (8-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference), who only needed to beat Florida (6-5, 4-4) and a struggling Mississippi State (2-9, 0-7) team next week to secure their spot in the CFP.

Instead, after taking a third loss, they’ll almost surely be left out of the 12-team bracket.

“This is the new age setup. When there’s the playoff line you kind of know where that is and a third loss doesn’t get you there,” Kiffin said. “It’s just a different world, almost NFLish, where you get knocked out of the playoffs and still have a game to play. Obviously this is an important game but we’ll get that tomorrow.”

Florida, meanwhile, became bowl-eligible by beating its second ranked team in a row, and can complete a remarkable in-season turnaround by beating Florida State in its regular-season finale on Nov. 30.

Along with last week’s win against LSU, the Gators beat ranked opponents in back-to-back weeks for the first time since 2008.

“We’re just getting started,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “This is part of the big-picture journey. Belief is the most powerful thing in the world.”

Ole Miss outgained the Gators by 100 yards but couldn’t turn the production into points. It was 3-for-14 on third down, and on its red zone trips had two turnovers on downs and a missed field goal.

The Rebels also muffed a punt that Florida recovered and turned into a field goal in the third quarter.

“I mean, it’s football. That happens. The year before it was almost the opposite, all the close ones went our way,” Kiffin said. “That’s a pretty easy story. They’re 2-for-2 in the red zone, we’re 0-for-3. We outgain then by 100 yards but they win the turnover margin. So again, it shows how irrelevant yards are vs. scoring in the red zone and turnovers.”

Florida eventually took a 24-17 lead in the fourth quarter when Montrell Johnson scored on a 9-yard run with 7:40 remaining.

Johnson finished with 107 rushing yards on 18 carries. Florida quarterback DJ Lagway was 10-of-17 passing for 180 yards and two TDs.

“I focused on grinding and trying to work my way back,” said Johnson, who missed most of the previous four games with an injury. “Last week I got a couple carries and this week I shot to the moon.”

Still, Ole Miss had plenty of chances down the stretch. Jordan Watkins dropped a deep pass in the end zone with 7:18 to go, and Dart threw an interception into triple coverage at the goal line with 1:32 left.

“Bad decision by me,” Dart said of the interception.

Ole Miss’ defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with 1:03 remaining, but Bryce Thornton intercepted Dart again to close it out.

Dart finished 24-of-41 passing for 323 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for a team-high 71 yards. He threw the two late picks, however, and was sacked four times.

“I think the only thing I can really say now is sorry,” Dart said. “Sorry to my teammates, sorry for my coaches, sorry for the fans,” Dart said. “Can’t lose these games. This one’s going to hurt for a really long time.”