Rebels Take Tumble to No. 17, Doesn’t Diminish Achievements

During the 2014 season, Ole Miss knocked off No. 1 Alabama No. 14 Texas A&M on the Road and brought home the coveted Egg Bowl trophy over No. 4 Mississippi State.
Photo by Amelia Camurati

After a tumultuous bowl season for the SEC, the final round of rankings from the Associated Press were released after Ohio State won the National Championship over Oregon, and the conference didn’t fare as well as fans hoped.

The Rebels fell eight spots — more than any other team on the list — to No. 17 after a 42-3 thrashing in the Peach Bowl by TCU, now ranked No. 3 above Alabama and Florida State, both of which were chosen to participate in the inaugural College Football Playoffs over the determined Horned Frogs.

Senior Senquez Golson made the final interception that ended the game for the Crimson Tide in October.
Photo by Chuck Barnes

Ohio State tops the list with its 42-40 win, knocking former No. 1 Alabama down three pegs after their New Year’s Day loss in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia is the only other SEC school in the Top 10 at No. 9 after thumping Louisville.

Mississippi State dropped three spots to No. 11 after losing to now No. 8 Georgia Tech, and Missouri moved up two places to No. 14 after defeating Minnesota. Boise State, who the Rebels defeated in the season opener in Atlanta, is now one spot above Ole Miss after a close win over Arizona.

No. 22 Auburn, the last of the ranked Southeastern Conference teams, dropped three spots after a heartbreaking 34-31 loss to Wisconsin, and Memphis rounds out the list at No. 25 for their first ranking in school history.

Despite the Rebels low spot after a hard loss to end the season, Ole Miss finished a historic season with the first 7-0 start since 1962 with a win over No. 1 Alabama and No. 14 Texas A&M in one of the hardest road environments in college football.

Quarterback Bo Wallace left the Rebel quad with six school records, including 1 63 percent career completion percentage and 10,478 offensive yards.

Ole Miss finished a memorable season with a painful defeat, but it will only make the returning Rebels hungry for redemption to prove this year was not a fluke to make it to No. 3 and the cover of Sports Illustrated. Coach Hugh Freeze is back for at least another few seasons, and his new recruits are some of the best in the country.

Amelia Camurati is editor-in-chief of HottyToddy.com and can be reached at amelia.camurati@hottytoddy.com.