Indiana Football to Play Ole Miss in 2021 Outback Bowl

The Hoosiers will square off against Ole Miss in the 2021 Outback Bowl on Jan. 2 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana football will officially be playing Ole Miss in the 2021 Outback Bowl.

The Hoosiers (6-1) seemed like they had the chance to make a New Year's Six Bowl, but Indiana was passed up despite being ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press Top-25 poll.

Indiana was ranked No. 11 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, which were released Sunday.

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Indiana hasn't played in two weeks due to COVID-19, but head coach Tom Allen said last Tuesday the team plans to return to practice on Monday to give itself enough time to prep for the bowl game.

Ole Miss is currently 4-5 on the season and lost to LSU this past Saturday 53-48.

The game will take place on Jan. 2, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. A limited number of fans will be allowed to attend the game.

The original tweet from both the Outback Bowl and Indiana football were deleted about playing in the game, and for a brief second on the Outback Bowl website, it said the 2021 game was canceled due to COVID-19.

But just a few minutes later, both the Outback Bowl and Indiana football re-tweeted that the game was on.

Then, Indiana sent out a press release at 5:39 p.m. ET to make it official.

Below is the full press release:

Indiana (6-1, 6-1 B1G East) will meet Ole Miss (4-5, 4-5 SEC West) in the 35th Outback Bowl, it was announced on Sunday afternoon. The game will be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

“It is a tremendous honor to play in the 35th Outback Bowl against a great opponent in Ole Miss,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said. “Our players, coaching staff, medical staff and everyone associated with our team worked hard to navigate through this difficult season, and I am so happy everyone is getting rewarded for their efforts. Making our second-straight January bowl game shows where we are at as a program, and we are not done yet. We look forward to one more opportunity to represent Hoosier Nation! LEO.”

The Hoosiers will be making their 13th bowl appearance, their four in sixth seasons, and their second in the state of Florida. IU faced Tennessee in the 2020 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

This marks Indiana’s fifth bowl game against an SEC opponent: 1988 Peach Bowl (27-22 loss to Tennessee on Jan. 2), 1988 Liberty Bowl (34-10 win over South Carolina on Dec. 28), 1990 Peach Bowl (27-23 loss to Auburn on Dec. 30, 2020 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (23-22 loss to Tennessee on Jan. 2).

This will be the first meeting between the Hoosiers and the Rebels. IU holds a 27-22-1 (.550) all-time record against SEC opponents.

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