Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 49. Ole Miss
HOTTY TODDY!
Coming in as the 10th best SEC team is Ole Miss, who is also our first Power 5 team with a winning record since 1983. Ole Miss comes in as the top program in the state of Mississippi just over Mississippi State and Southern Miss. Ole Miss has a 64-46-6 record in the Egg Bowl over Mississippi State, and tailgating in The Grove is a bucket list experience for any college football fan.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+-------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+-------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 9 | Mississippi | 2015 | 33.946 | 10-3 |
| 15 | Mississippi | 2014 | 27.51 | 9-4 |
| 16 | Mississippi | 2003 | 25.692 | 10-3 |
| 16 | Mississippi | 2008 | 22.779 | 9-4 |
| 18 | Mississippi | 2021 | 21.84 | 10-3 |
| 26 | Mississippi | 2009 | 15.81 | 9-4 |
| 20 | Mississippi | 1997 | 15.399 | 8-4 |
| 24 | Mississippi | 1986 | 15.394 | 8-3-1 |
| 28 | Mississippi | 2013 | 13.457 | 8-5 |
| 22 | Mississippi | 1992 | 11.948 | 9-3 |
| 25 | Mississippi | 1999 | 10.52 | 8-4 |
| 32 | Mississippi | 1990 | 8.043 | 9-3 |
| 37 | Mississippi | 2022 | 7.427 | 8-5 |
| 35 | Mississippi | 2001 | 6.648 | 7-4 |
| 33 | Mississippi | 1989 | 6.192 | 8-4 |
| 43 | Mississippi | 2000 | -0.843 | 7-5 |
| 56 | Mississippi | 2012 | -1.986 | 7-6 |
| 53 | Mississippi | 2002 | -3.103 | 7-6 |
| 55 | Mississippi | 2020 | -3.935 | 5-5 |
| 60 | Mississippi | 2017 | -6.096 | 6-6 |
| 50 | Mississippi | 1998 | -6.85 | 7-5 |
| 58 | Mississippi | 1995 | -8.29 | 6-5 |
| 54 | Mississippi | 1993 | -10.835 | 5-6 |
| 66 | Mississippi | 2016 | -10.839 | 5-7 |
| 62 | Mississippi | 1988 | -11.409 | 5-6 |
| 54 | Mississippi | 1983 | -11.653 | 6-6 |
| 61 | Mississippi | 1991 | -13.874 | 5-6 |
| 67 | Mississippi | 1984 | -17.224 | 4-6-1 |
| 61 | Mississippi | 1985 | -17.403 | 4-6-1 |
| 68 | Mississippi | 1994 | -19.081 | 4-7 |
| 93 | Mississippi | 2018 | -20.162 | 5-7 |
| 70 | Mississippi | 1996 | -20.566 | 5-6 |
| 78 | Mississippi | 2004 | -20.923 | 4-7 |
| 82 | Mississippi | 2010 | -23.56 | 4-8 |
| 92 | Mississippi | 2019 | -23.646 | 4-8 |
| 81 | Mississippi | 2006 | -25.017 | 4-8 |
| 94 | Mississippi | 2007 | -31.924 | 3-9 |
| 85 | Mississippi | 1987 | -33.96 | 3-8 |
| 103 | Mississippi | 2005 | -36.054 | 3-8 |
| 111 | Mississippi | 2011 | -46.209 | 2-10 |
+------+-------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 21362 (49th)250-223-3 record
0 conference titles
14-6 bowl record
7 consensus All-Americans
100 NFL players drafted
I mean…Ole Miss hasn’t been that bad, I didn’t think they’d have so many seasons of 5+ wins. I did anticipate them being a bit higher in the list due to Hugh Freeze, Lane Kiffin, and Houston Nutt’s success, but it’s hard to overcome the Ed Orgeron era, whose 3 seasons all finished in the bottom 5. Their last conference title was 1963, so it’s been a while, but they have the excuse of being in the SEC at least. I’m surprised at how spotless Ole Miss has been in bowls, going 14-6 overall and 12-3 from 1983-2013, including 3 Cotton Bowl wins and a Sugar Bowl win. The consensus All-Americans we won’t talk about below are OL Everett Lindsay (1992), TE Rufus French (1998), OL Terrence Metcalf (2001) who’s the dad of Seattle Seahawks WR DK Metcalf, LB Patrick Willis (2006) who won SEC Defensive POTY and the Butkus Award, and WR Elijah Moore (2020) who was 2nd in the NCAA in receiving yards. The top players in the NFL over the last 40 years are far and away QB Eli Manning and LB Patrick Willis, but WR AJ Brown, WR DK Metcalf, DT Tim Bowens, RB Deuce McAllister, TE Wesley Walls, TE Dawson Knox, WR Mike Wallace, OT Laremy Tunsil, and DE Greg Hardy have all had their time in the sun.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2011 (2-10 overall, 0-8 SEC)
It was a weird time for Ole Miss. They were coming off a 4-8 year with QB Jeremiah Masoli (yes, the one from Oregon), and after Houston Nutt had the program trending up for a short bit of time, they were suddenly tanking. They lost a 13-0 lead in the 4th quarter of their opener against BYU to lose 13-14, and followed it up 2 weeks later with a 7-30 loss to Vanderbilt. That’s pretty much how the season went, save for wins over FCS Southern Illinois and somehow a win at Fresno State with a young Derek Carr. They had an utterly embarrassing final 3 games, losing 7-27 to Louisiana Tech, 3-52 to LSU, and 3-31 to Mississippi State. Ole Miss ranked #102 or lower in every major offensive category, averaging just 16.1 PPG. QBs Randall Mackey and Zack Stoudt combined for just 9 TD 13 INT, and there wasn’t much of a run game either. Just 2 players were drafted over the next 3 years from this team, with freshman WR Donte Moncrief being the only player of note.
5. 2021 (10-3 overall, 6-2 SEC)
Overrated alert? Ole Miss finished #11 in the postseason poll in 2021, which would make it their 2nd best season since 1983, but I had them finishing #18 and this is their 5th best season. 10 years after their worst season in 2011, Ole Miss was in a much better spot with coach Lane Kiffin and QB Matt Corral. The offense was potent all year long, beating Louisville 43-24 in the opener and #13 Arkansas a month later 52-51. Arkansas had scored a touchdown as time expired, but came up empty on the 2 point conversion. The defense locked in after that, giving up just 20.8 PPG the rest of the year, with wins over Tennessee, LSU, #11 Texas A&M, and Mississippi State. The A&M win was #11 Texas A&M vs #15 Ole Miss in Oxford, MS for College GameDay, and the Rebels outgained the Aggies by over 100 yards for the 29-19 win. Ole Miss was #8 entering the Sugar Bowl against #7 Baylor, but an early injury to QB Matt Corral killed their chances at a win, and lost 7-21 to finish the year #11. Corral was 2nd Team All-SEC, completing a highly efficient season of 68% of passes for 3350 yards 20 TD 5 INT, while also rushing for 614 yards and 11 TD. DE Sam Williams was a 3rd Team All-American, setting an Ole Miss record with 12.5 sacks. Corral, Williams, and 4 other players (total of 6) went in the 2022 NFL Draft.
4. 2008 (9-4 overall, 5-3 SEC)
What people probably remember most about the 2008 Ole Miss team is them beating Florida and Tim Tebow’s “promise” that they would win out. What people might’ve forgotten is this Ole Miss team was REALLY good. A 3-4 start was filled with ups and downs, including the 31-30 upset win over #4 and eventual national champion Florida, but 4 one-possession losses to Vanderbilt and South Carolina, but also #2 Alabama. In the second half of the season, Ole Miss was one of the best teams in the country, beating Arkansas, Auburn, UL Monroe 59-0, #18 LSU 31-13, Mississippi State 45-0, and #8 Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl 47-34. The team was absolutely riddled with talent. Former Texas QB Jevan Snead, who nearly beat out Colt McCoy for the starting job in 2006, emerged as a potential 1st round pick, throwing for 2762 yards 26 TD 13 INT. RB/WR Dexter McCluster did it all, with 655 rushing yards, 625 receiving yards, and 7 total TD. Joining him at WR were 3x 1000 yard NFL deep threat WR Mike Wallace and Shay Hodge, who finished as Ole Miss’s all time leading receiver with 2646 yards. OT Michael Oher was a consensus All-American, and DT Peria Jerry joined him as a 1st Team All-American. DE Greg Hardy was also on this team, and had 8.5 sacks in just 9 games. They finished #14 in the country as the highest ranked 9-4 team, and missed out on an unbeaten season by just 19 points in 4 losses combined.
3. 2003 (10-3 overall, 7-1 SEC)
Eli Manning used to be just a young guy, bright and full of life. In 2003 he was Ole Miss’s senior QB, having so far lived up to the hype of his dad and brother. However, a 2-2 start was not ideal, losing in an upset to Memphis and then Texas Tech, with wins over just Vanderbilt and UL Monroe. Manning and Ole Miss started winning after that, beating #24 Florida 20-17, Arkansas State 55-0, Alabama 43-28, #21 Arkansas 19-7, South Carolina 43-40 in a near-blown 29 point lead, and Auburn 24-20 in a pivotal SEC West matchup of 7-2 Ole Miss vs 6-3 Auburn. That set up #15 Ole Miss vs #3 LSU to decide the West, but Ole Miss would come up short 14-17 to the eventual national champions. So you can imagine how they probably felt taking their frustrations out in a 31-0 Egg Bowl win over Mississippi State. To finish the year, they played and beat #21 Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl, a postseason matchup that would become all too familiar over the next decade and a half. Manning finished his career in style, throwing for 3600 yards 29 TD 10 INT to win SEC Offensive POTY, the Maxwell Award, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, and finished 3rd in Heisman voting. Kicker Jonathan Nichols was (almost) automatic, hitting 25 of 29 field goals to win the Lou Groza Award. Coach David Cutcliffe won SEC Coach of the Year.
2. 2014 (9-4 overall, 5-3 SEC)
HOO WEE. What a year it was for the state of Mississippi. MS State became the first #1 team ever in the first ever College Football Playoff poll at midseason, and Ole Miss reached #3 in the rankings at one point. The two were jostling for state supremacy all season long, with Ole Miss having one of the best years in school history. They were hot to start, beating Boise State 35-13, and wiping through Vandy/ULM/Memphis by a combined 121-21. That set up a #11 Ole Miss vs #3 Alabama College GameDay matchup in Oxford, and the Rebels didn’t disappoint, holding Bama to just 1 offensive touchdown in a 23-17 win, one of the biggest wins in school history. They even followed up by dominating #14 Texas A&M in College Station 35-20, and beat Tennessee 34-3 for their Homecoming game. Egg Bowl tickets, with both Mississippi teams unbeaten, surpassed Iron Bowl ticket prices at the time, with tickets ranging from $300-$11,000. The first sign of vulnerability came in a 7-10 loss to #24 LSU, but Ole Miss only dropped to #4 in the first Playoff ranking. A 31-35 loss to #3 Auburn though was heartbreaking, as star WR Laquon Treadwell fumbled at the inches line with 1:30 left, Auburn recovered, Treadwell went out for the season with an injury on the play, and Ole Miss’s national title hopes ended, all in one moment. They got back up to #8 a few weeks later, but a 0-30 loss to Arkansas pretty much killed any hope for the season. They did manage to rebound with one of the biggest Egg Bowl wins ever, 31-17 to knock #4 Mississippi State from the top 4, but followed it up with a 3-42 stinker in the Peach Bowl to #6 TCU. This team finished #17.
The “Land Shark” defense was arguably the best in the country, giving up just 16.0 PPG, first in the nation. CB Senquez Golson was a consensus All-American, picking off 10 passes including a big one vs Alabama. S Cody Prewitt joined him on 1st Team All-SEC, and S Tony Conner made the 2nd Team. Former #1 recruit Robert Nkemdiche was 1st Team All-SEC at DT. The offense wouldn’t reach nearly the heights they’d have in 2015, but had tons of talent, with senior QB Bo Wallace finishing his career strongly with weapons all around him, throwing for 3000+ yards with 22 TD 14 INT and 5 rushing TDs. Future NFL 1st round picks WR Laquon Treadwell and TE Evan Engram each had 600+ receiving yards. 2015 was when the team would really take off.
1. 2015 (10-3 overall, 6-2 SEC)
QB Chad “Swag” Kelly arrived on campus, and turned Ole Miss’s offense from a shotgun into a bazooka. After finishing top 20 in recruiting the previous 3 seasons, the talent was melding into a really good team capable of beating anybody. In their first 2 games, they beat Tennessee-Martin 76-3 and Fresno State 73-21. Ranked #15 and headed to #2 Alabama, surely they wouldn’t beat Nick Saban twice in a row, this time on the road and with a new QB? Well, that’s exactly what they did, getting some fortunate bounces and playing their ass off in a 43-37 upset win over the eventual national champions. The season wouldn’t come easy for Ole Miss, moving up to #3 and losing 10-38 to #25 Florida just a few weeks later. A 24-37 loss to Memphis was kind of a WTF result, but Memphis was a really good Group of 5 team with future NFL players QB Paxton Lynch, WR Anthony Miller, and K Jake Elliott. Still, Ole Miss continued to show they could pretty much beat anyone, owning #15 Texas A&M 23-3, holding the Aggies to just 12 first downs and 192 total yards. In control of their destiny to win an SEC title, we saw one of the craziest finishes ever in Ole Miss-Arkansas, with Arkansas converting a 4th and 25 overtime with a 15 yard backward lateral that was scooped up, and carried over 30 yards for the first down. Arkansas would get a TD and convert the 2 point conversion for a 53-52 win. Despite that, Ole Miss went on a tear to end the year, beating #15 LSU, #21 Missisippi State, and #16 Oklahoma State 48-20 in the Sugar Bowl, outgaining OSU by 200 yards.
The team was ludicrously stacked. It’s no wonder they had a 5-1 record against Top 25 teams, averaging 40.8 PPG while giving up 22.6 PPG with wins over #2 Alabama, #15 LSU, #15 Texas A&M, #16 Oklahoma State, and #21 Mississippi State. Chad Kelly made the All-SEC team in his first year, throwing for 4000 yards with 31 TD 13 INT, along with 500 rushing yards and 10 TD. WR Laquon Treadwell led the SEC with 1153 receiving yards and 11 TD, and joining him was WR Quincy Adeboyejo and TE Evan Engram. Treadwell was a 3rd Team All-American, OT Laremy Tunsil was a 2nd Team All-American, DT Robert Nkemdiche was a 3rd Team All-American, and DB Trae Elston was a 2nd Team All-American. Tunsil, Treadwell, Nkemdiche, and Engram were all NFL 1st round picks over the next 2 years.
5th Quarter
Was 2015 Ole Miss talented enough to win the national title? What about the 2008 team that was 4 one-possesssion losses away from going unbeaten? Should the 2003 team with Eli Manning rank above the 2014/15 teams? Should the 2021 team rank higher? Ole Miss fans, were you having more fun under Hugh Freeze or Lane Kiffin? Do people think Ole Miss’s #49 ranking in this list is accurate? What’s your favorite Ole Miss player/play/game/moment from the last 40 years?
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