A Look Back at Ole Miss' History in the Sugar Bowl
Ole Miss secured its first 10-win regular season in school history in 2021, and the Rebels were rewarded with a berth in the Allstate Sugar Bowl as a result.
The Rebels will take on Big 12 champion Baylor on the night of Jan. 1 in the Caesers Superdome in New Orleans, and this is Ole Miss' 10th appearance in the Sugar Bowl in program history.
In the modern era, the Sugar Bowl has a tie-in with the SEC and Big 12 champion if neither champion reaches the College Football Playoff. If the champion does reach the Playoff, the berth falls to the next team in the conference pecking order. Since both of the SEC's top teams, Alabama and Georgia, reached the CFP this season, that berth fell to Ole Miss for the 2021 season.
"Well, it's huge. We knew that after winning the Egg Bowl that we were going to be in a major New Year's Six game. It was just a matter of which one. We were already recruiting that day and already doing that."
-- Lane Kiffin, Sugar Bowl team selection press conference
The Sugar Bowl has been an annual event in college football since Jan. 1, 1935, and is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the sport behind the Rose Bowl. Once Ole Miss plays this season's installment of the game on New Year's Day, it will move into sole possession of fourth-place all-time in Sugar Bowl appearances behind Alabama (16), LSU (13) and Georgia (11).
Here are the results of Ole Miss' previous Sugar Bowl berths.
Jan. 1, 1953 -- Georgia Tech 24, Ole Miss 7
Ole Miss' first appearance in the Sugar Bowl came after the 1952 season against Georgia Tech who, at that time, was still a member of the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss' only score in the game came in the first quarter when it jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but it was all Yellow Jackets from that point on.
With the win, Georgia Tech was named National Champion by five of the nation's polls.
Jan. 1, 1955 -- Navy 21, Ole Miss 0
The Rebels' second appearance in the Sugar Bowl under Johnny Vaught went similarly to their first as Ole Miss was shutout by Navy. This installment of the Sugar Bowl is the only appearance in the game in Navy's football history. This put a spoiler on a previously-undefeated season for Ole Miss, but the Rebels finished the year ranked No. 6 in the country.
Jan. 1, 1958 -- Ole Miss 39, Texas 7
Where Ole Miss had been outscored by a combined 45-7 in its first two appearances in the Sugar Bowl, it made up a lot of ground when it faced Texas to conclude the 1957 season, steamrolling the Longhorns 39-7. Ole Miss finished that season 9-1-1 with its lone tie coming against Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.
Jan. 1, 1960 -- Ole Miss 21, LSU 0
After its heartbreaking loss to the Tigers earlier in the 1959 season thanks to a Billy Cannon punt return, Ole Miss bounced back against its rival in the Sugar Bowl. Syracuse was declared the National Champion by the Associated Press, but Ole Miss was retroactively given the title as well by multiple polls, giving it its first claim to a football national title in school history.
Jan. 2, 1961 -- Ole Miss 14, Rice 6
In what was Rice's only appearance in the Sugar Bowl, Ole Miss laid claim to another national championship following the 1960 season. Ole Miss finished the season 10-0-1 with its lone tie coming against LSU in Oxford. The Rebels were named National Champions by the Football Writers Association of America.
Jan. 1, 1963 -- Ole Miss 17, Arkansas 13
During the 1962 season, the Ole Miss campus was metaphorically ablaze with the enrollment of James Meredith in Oxford, ending the university's history of racial segregation. With this scene grabbing national headlines, the Ole Miss football team was as well, going 10-0 with a win over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl.
This season remains as Ole Miss' only undefeated and untied football season in school history. The Rebels were retroactively named National Champions by three polls.
Jan. 1, 1964 -- Alabama 12, Ole Miss 7
Ole Miss suffered its first loss in the Sugar Bowl since 1955 when it fell to Alabama following the 1963 season. The Rebels finished this season 7-1-2 with the Sugar Bowl being its only loss of the campaign. The Ole Miss regular season was bookended by ties to Memphis State and Mississippi State.
Jan. 1, 1970 -- Ole Miss 27, Arkansas 22
The Rebels concluded their 1969 season with a Sugar Bowl win over Arkansas for the second time in the last decade. This was the final Sugar Bowl appearance in the head coaching tenure of Johnny Vaught and the last Sugar Bowl appearance for Ole Miss until the 2015 season.
Jan. 1, 2016 -- Ole Miss 48, Oklahoma State 20
In what will forever be remembered as the pinnacle of the Hugh Freeze era in Oxford, Ole Miss dominated Oklahoma State in New Orleans to open the year 2016. The Rebels finished this season 10-3, its first 10-win season since 2003, and would not reach the postseason again until the 2020 season in year one under Lane Kiffin.
The 2017-2019 seasons were overshadowed by NCAA sanctions in Oxford left behind by Freeze's tenure. Although numerous games were vacated as a part of NCAA sanctions, the 2015 season, including the Sugar Bowl, remained untouched in the record books.
Jan. 1, 2021 -- Ole Miss vs. Baylor
As mentioned above, this is Ole Miss' 10th appearance all-time in the Sugar Bowl. The Rebels and Bears have faced each other one time in the two schools' history, a 20-10 win by Baylor in 1975. These two teams were originally scheduled to open the 2020 season at a neutral site, but the COVID-19 pandemic sent the college football world into a landscape made up largely of conference-only schedules last year, and that matchup fell victim as a result.
Ole Miss and Baylor will kick off at 7:45 p.m. CT on Jan. 1, and the game will be televised on ESPN.
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