There was a time when the Ole Miss Rebels were an annual national championship contender, and one of the most feared football programs in the nation.

Unfortunately, the greatest stretch of gridiron glory in Oxford – which included a share of three national championships – ended roughly 50 years ago.

The Rebels last won the SEC Championship in 1963, and prior to the 2015 season had not finished a season ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll since 1969. However, having improved its record in each of head coach Hugh Freeze’s four seasons on the sidelines at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, climbing as high as No. 3 in the AP Top 25 in both 2014 and 2015, the Rebels are in the midst of a resurgence.

While the program continues to evolve, we take a look at the greatest Ole Miss football teams of all-time.

Honorable Mention

1910: 7-1

The first great football team fielded by the University of Mississippi was the 1910 squad, which suffered only one close defeat in eight contests and didn’t allow a single point the rest of the season. The lone blemish was a 9-2 loss to an 8-0-1 Vanderbilt squad. No Ole Miss football team would record more victories in a season during the next quarter century.

1935: 9-3 (3-1)

Ole Miss opened the 1935 season in impressive fashion, winning its first five games by a combined score of 204-6, before losing 33-7 to Marquette. The Rebels lost twice more, though each was decided by a single point: 14-13 to Tennessee in Memphis and 20-19 to Catholic University in the Orange Bowl.

1947: 9-2, (6-1), SEC Champions, No. 13 Final Ranking

Legendary head coach John Vaught made an immediate impact in his first season, claiming the school’s first-ever SEC Championship. The Rebels lost to No. 10 Vanderbilt, 10-6, and dropped a 19-14 decision to a tough Arkansas program, but captured the league crown and beat TCU 13-9 in the Delta Bowl in Memphis, which marked the first bowl victory in program history.

1952: 8-1-2, (4-1-2), No. 7 Final Ranking

No Ole Miss football team had broken into the top 10 of the final AP poll until the 1952 squad, which posted an undefeated regular season highlighted by a 21-14 victory over No. 3 Maryland. Early-season ties with Kentucky and Vanderbilt kept the Rebels out of the national championship race, but Ole Miss made its first appearance in the Sugar Bowl, losing 24-7 to Georgia Tech.

1954: 9-2, (5-0), SEC Champions, No. 6 Final Ranking

Two years later, the Rebels again made it to New Orleans and finished in the top 10 of the polls, and added an SEC Championship for good measure. With a stingy defense that allowed just 6.2 points per game (third-best in the country), Ole Miss swept its conference slate during a 9-1 regular season. The only hiccups came in a 6-0 loss to No. 7 Arkansas in Little Rock and a 21-0 loss to No. 6 Navy in the Sugar Bowl.

1955: 10-1 (5-1), SEC Champions, No. 10 Final Ranking

The 1955 Ole Miss Rebels were the first team in school history to win 10 games in a season, reaching double digits with a 14-13 victory over TCU in the Cotton Bowl. Ranked No. 8 early in the season, a 21-14 loss to Kentucky knocked thee Rebels out of the discussion for a national title, but Ole Miss rode a nine-game winning streak to a spot in the top 10 of the AP poll for the third time in four years.

1957: 9-1-1, (5-0-1), No. 7 Final Ranking

Ole Miss rose to national prominence in the 1950s under John Vaught, and the 1957 squad helped to set the stage for the most remarkable run in school history. The first of seven consecutive teams to finish ranked in the top 11 of the AP poll and the first of 15 consecutive bowl game appearances (11 bowls more than the second longest streak for the program), the Rebels lost to Arkansas and tied No. 13 Mississippi State, but beat a top 10 Tennessee team and blew out Texas 39-7 in the Sugar Bowl.

1963: 7-1-2, (5-1-1), SEC Champions, No. 7 Final Ranking

The last Ole Miss football team to win the SEC title, the 1963 Rebels featured the nation’s stingiest defense. The Rebels allowed just 4.5 points per game, and recorded four shutouts during an undefeated regular season. Only a scoreless tie with Memphis in the season opener and a 10-10 draw with Mississippi State in the regular-season finale kept the Rebels out of national championship contention. Ole Miss did end the season on a sour note, however, with a 12-7 loss to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

1969: 8-3, (4-2), No. 8 Final Ranking

The last Ole Miss football team to make it to the Sugar Bowl and end its season in the top 10 of the AP poll until 2015, the 1969 Rebels featured the most beloved player in school history: Archie Manning. As a junior, Manning quarterbacked Ole Miss to victories over No. 8 LSU and No. 3 Tennessee in the regular season, and beat No. 3 Arkansas 27-22 in the Sugar Bowl. Only a pair of one-point losses to Kentucky and Alabama kept the Rebels from the SEC title. Manning finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, and would finish third in 1970.

1992: 9-3, (5-3), No. 16 Final Ranking

The 1970s and ’80s were a tough time to be an Ole Miss fan as the Rebels recorded just three winning seasons and two appearances in bowl games from 1974-88. However, head coach Billy Brewer began to turn the program around in the late ’80s, and guided the Rebels to a Top 25 finish in 1990. In ’92, the Rebels finished No. 16 in the country, which was the highest final ranking for Ole Miss since 1971, thanks to a top 10 defense, punctuated with a 32-0 victory over rival LSU and a 13-0 win over Air Force in the Liberty Bowl.

2003: 10-3, (7-1), SEC West Co-Champions, No. 13 Final Ranking

The first Ole Miss football team to win 10 games in a season since 1971, and with the highest final ranking for the Rebels since 1969, head coach David Cutcliffe and quarterback Eli Manning also captured a share of the West Division title. Manning rewrote the Ole Miss record book, but couldn’t guide the Rebels to a victory over No. 3 LSU, which kept the team from making its first appearance in the SEC Championship Game.

2008: 9-4, (5-3), No. 14 Final Ranking

The Houston Nutt era got off to a great start for Ole Miss as the Rebels improved from 3-9 in 2007 to 9-4 the following year. The Rebels lost four games by a single possession in the first half of the season, but also picked up a stunning 31-30 over Tim Tebow and the eventual national champion Florida Gators at The Swamp. Following a 24-20 loss to No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the Rebels rumbled to six straight wins to close the season, which included a 31-13 victory over No. 18 LSU at Tiger Stadium and a 47-34 win over No. 8 Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.

5. 2015: 10-3, (6-2), No. 10 Final Ranking

The ’14 Ole Miss Rebels rose as high as No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings thanks in large part to a victory over No. 3 Alabama. But, the Rebels lost four of their final six games, and limped into the offseason with a 42-3 loss to TCU in the Peach Bowl.

That team did set the stage for an elite 2015 campaign.

Ole Miss won its first two games by a combined score of 149-24 and then upset No. 2 and eventual national champion Alabama, 43-37, in Tuscaloosa. It was the first time in school history that the Rebels beat the Tide in back-to-back seasons.

Injuries on defense and an NCAA-mandated suspension for star tackle Laremy Tunsil took a toll as the Rebels struggled in October. Ole Miss lost 38-10 to No. 25 Florida and dropped a 37-24 decision to a strong Memphis squad. The team lost its grip on the SEC West with a dramatic 53-52 overtime loss to Arkansas on Nov. 7, but recovered and won three straight games over ranked opponents (including top rivals LSU and Mississippi State) to close out the campaign.

Quarterback Chad Kelly threw for a school record 4,042 passing yards and tossed 31 touchdown passes (11 of which went to Laquon Treadwell) while also accounting for a team-best 10 TDs on the ground.

A 9-3 regular season gave Ole Miss its first Sugar Bowl appearance since 1969, and a 48-20 victory over Oklahoma State also secured the first top 10 final ranking for the Rebels over the same 46-year span.

4. 1961: 9-2 (5-1), No. 5 Final Ranking

The late 1950s and early 1960s was the golden era of Ole Miss football, and the four-year stretch from 1959-62 was the best of the best for the Rebels, who won a share of three national titles and finished ranked in the top five of the AP poll each year.

The 1961 squad nearly brought a third consecutive national championship home to Oxford. A regular-season loss to No. 6 LSU and to No. 3 Texas in the Cotton Bowl prevented that distinction.

Ole Miss fielded the No. 5 scoring offense in the nation (30.3 points per game) and ranked second in the country in scoring defense (4.7 points allowed per game).

 

3. 1960: 10-0-1, (5-0-1), SEC Champions, National Champions

The 1960 Ole Miss Rebels were the first unbeaten team in school history and the only team to receive national championship honors from the Football Writers Association of America.

Ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP poll, the Rebels rose to No. 1 for the first time following a 42-0 victory over Houston in the season opener.

At one point, a 6-6 tie with LSU dropped the Rebels outside the top 5. The AP and UPI both crowned Minnesota national champions prior to the Gophers 17-7 loss to Washington in the Rose Bowl. Conversely, Ole Miss defeated No. 12 Rice in the Sugar Bowl, earning them votes from the FWAA.

Led by quarterback Jake Gibbs, running back Hoss Anderson and eventual first-round NFL draft pick Bobby Crespino, the Rebels fielded a top 10 offense and a top three defense.

 

2. 1962: 10-0, (6-0), SEC Champions, National Champions

The Rebels raced through 1962 unbeaten and untied – the only such season in school history – with national championship recognition from three major selectors. Unfortunately for Ole Miss, USC was crowned champions by the major media outlets of the day — the AP and UPI – as well as the FWAA and National Football Foundation.

Vaught made the Rebels a major force on the gridiron, and held opponents to 5.4 points per game, which was the third best average in the country. The Rebels beat No. 4 LSU, 15-7, which helped the team earn a spot in the Sugar Bowl, and beat No. 6 Arkansa,s 17-13, in New Orleans to cap off an incredible year.

Of course, the 1962 season was remarkable for several reasons, only some of which included the success of the team on the field. During the fall semester of 1962, James Meredith became the first African-American student at the University of Mississippi despite the resistance of Governor Ross Barnett and a tense bout of mob violence overnight Sept. 29 in Oxford.

The campus riots resulted in President John F. Kennedy sending U.S. Army troops to the school to help the U.S. Marshalls and National Guardsmen already in place. The integration of the school was a major moment in the Civil Rights Movement.

 

1. 1959: 10-1, (6-1), No. 2 Final Ranking, National Champions

It may seem strange to list the ’59 Rebels as the greatest team in school history, especially since the ’60 and ’62 squads were both undefeated. However, Ole Miss’ 7-3 loss to No. 1 LSU, which featured Billy Cannon’s legendary game-winning punt return touchdown, didn’t keep the Rebels for winning a share of a national championship – especially since the Rebels avenged that loss with a 21-0 victory in a Sugar Bowl rematch with the Tigers.

While the AP and UPI crowned undefeated Syracuse champions (as did the FWAA and NFF), and No. 5 Georgia won the SEC title with a 7-0 record in league play, Ole Miss has earned national title recognition from four major selectors, Berryman, Billingsley, Dunkel and Saragin. Respected college football statistical analyst Bill Connelly has also ranked the ’59 Rebels as one of the greatest teams of all-time, specifically No. 2 spot on his recent list of the 50 best college football teams since World War II.

Ole Miss allowed a remarkable 21 points all season (14 of which were the result of short drives following turnovers by the Rebels on offense) and led the nation in scoring defense (1.9 points per game). The Rebels opened the season with four consecutive shutouts, and beat No. 10 Arkansas, 28-0, in Week 6.

Vaught’s squad also boasted one of the highest-scoring offensive teams in the country, having ranked third with an average of 31.8 points per contest. After losing to LSU, Ole Miss beat Chattanooga 58-0, then blew out No. 9 Tennessee 37-7 and wrapped up the regular season with a dominant 42-0 victory over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.