Ole Miss football is back in the Sugar Bowl, faces Baylor on New Year’s Day

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

The Ole Miss Rebels will be back in New Orleans after a six year hiatus in the Sugar Bowl to face the Big 12 Champion Baylor Bears.

Ole Miss (10-2, 6-2 SEC) won 10 regular season games for the first time in school history, and the Rebels will be making its 10th appearance in the Sugar Bowl. Head coach Lane Kiffin is in his second season at the helm and has dramatically improved the postseason prospects of the program almost immediately.

The last time Ole Miss played in the Sugar Bowl (2016) the Rebels trounced Oklahoma St. 48-20, but if you were there or watched it on TV, the score could have been more out of hand.

Baylor (11-2, 7-2 Big 12) and Ole Miss have only played once - a 20-10 victory for Baylor in a season opener in Waco, Tex. in 1975. The teams were scheduled to play each other last year prior to the COVID pandemic and rescheduling of the SEC only season.

There is no doubt in my mind New Orleans, La. is going to be packed with Ole Miss fans come Dec. 31 for New Year’s Eve and the oncoming Jan. 1 bowl game set to kick at 7:45 p.m.

From what I can remember last Sugar Bowl, the crowd was huge, the bars and restaurants were packed everywhere we went, and it was just a ridiculously good time. So start practicing all those French street names - Carondelet, Chartres, Dauphine, Baronne, Bienville, et al.

Speaking of, it is likely the current and former Red Cup staff will be drinking, eating and being merry at Lucy’s on Tchoupitoulas the day of the game. Come join, let’s get weird. Cheers!