The Ole Miss Rebels have a lot to be proud of in 2015.

If Ole Miss manages to beat Mississippi State or win its bowl game, the Rebels will post back-to-back nine-win seasons for the first time since 2008-2009. Should Ole Miss win both matchups, it will be its first 10-win season since 2003.

Hugh Freeze has already won 32 games as head coach at Ole Miss — the most for any coach in his first four years at the school.

Still, it is hard not to look back at 2015 as a huge missed opportunity for Ole Miss.

For the first time in program history, Ole Miss defeated Alabama, LSU and Auburn in the same season. The Rebels also knocked off Texas A&M, which at one point ranked as high as No. 9 in the AP Poll. But they failed to win the SEC West.

Ole Miss can chalk up its loss to Florida as bad timing. The Gators, who still had QB Will Grier in the lineup, were playing very well at the time. The Rebels were banged up from their victory over Alabama a few weeks prior.

It was also a bad matchup for Ole Miss. Florida’s defense is built to rush the passer and stop the aerial attack. Without a running game as support, QB Chad Kelly had little chance to succeed. It didn’t help that All-American left tackle Laremy Tunsil missed the game due to NCAA suspension.

A misfortunate bounce cost the Rebels against Arkansas. The Razorbacks’ lateral on a fourth-and-24 play in overtime prevented Ole Miss from winning. Then Arkansas scored a touchdown and converted a two-point conversion to win.

A stop on either the fourth-and-25 play or the two-point conversion attempt would have left the Rebels in control of the SEC West race. Instead, they need Alabama to slip up against Auburn to have a chance to play in the SEC Championship Game.

Freeze has the Ole Miss program moving in the right direction. But it might be a few years until the Rebels get a realistic chance at its first conference championship game appearance.

Ole Miss will lose 19 seniors, 12 of which have played a significant role this season. The Rebels also are likely to lose juniors Robert Nkemdiche, Laquon Treadwell and Tunsil to the NFL Draft. Who knows how long it will be until Ole Miss has that type of talent again?

This group of juniors and seniors accomplished a lot at Ole Miss, but one could argue, it could have done even more.