Alabama will dust itself off after its showdown with LSU on Saturday night.

Ole Miss will finish off its much-needed bye week and return to practice.

And then it will be time, at long last, on the 2nd Saturday in November.

It will be time for the “SEC’s Most Southern Rivalry,” Alabama vs. Ole Miss, played late this season on Nov. 12 with the normal traditions and the highest of stakes.

Alabama enters its LSU showdown at 4-1 in the SEC, and so it will either be raring to go at 5-1 coming into Oxford or in pure desperation mode after falling in Baton Rouge.

Ole Miss is also 4-1 in the SEC, and so it will be exactly that in a little over a week after its bye, and it will be locked, loaded and determined to get it right in this SEC showdown after suffering its 1st conference loss at LSU on Oct. 22.

At this moment, Bama, Ole Miss and LSU are all 4-1, so the round-robin will continue this Saturday in Baton Rouge. Then it will finally be time for the Southern Rivalry of all southern rivalries when the Crimson Tide and Rebels hook up the following Saturday.

We now know that Alabama-Ole Miss will be an afternoon affair with national TV attention and the normal, wonderful Southern backdrop in Oxford. The Grove will be in absolutely full bloom on the 12th day of November, with Bama in town and Ole Miss in contention for a rare trip to Atlanta and the SEC Championship Game.

The convergence of this very Southern rivalry in its own right — no matter the present stakes, the presence of Nick Saban and Alabama in Oxford in November and Lane Kiffin’s Rebels being stacked this season and in the mix for big things — will make Crimson Tide vs. Rebels a spectacle beyond words in 2022.

According to the year-by-year history, the Tide and Rebels have not played in November since 1944. It has always been in September or October, and Alabama-Ole Miss has mostly never been dull. It has been traditional and extremely eventful, and full of that pageantry that only Tuscaloosa or The Grove can provide.

So while Bama gets ready for LSU and Ole Miss rests, we’ll take a dive into the 10 moments to remember in the Alabama-Ole Miss Southern War that has been staged since 1894, when the Rebels beat the Tide in Jackson.

But the Tide have absolutely dominated the rivalry, to the highest degree, leading 53-10-2, according to winsipedia.com. That doesn’t mean Ole Miss hasn’t had its moments, though, and it could have another one 2 Saturdays from now in Oxford.

For now, here are our top 10 moments to remember in this charming, albeit very lopsided, Southern-fried rivalry:

1. The Frigid 1964 Sugar Bowl

It was the only meeting of the programs that wasn’t played in the state of Alabama or Mississippi, and it might’ve been the most memorable Alabama-Ole Miss game of all.

No. 8 Alabama knocked off No. 7 Ole Miss on New Year’s Day, 12-7, thanks to 4 field goals by kicker Tim Davis. The game was played at the end of the 1963 season, and it is well known for being the coldest Sugar Bowl ever staged — this was before the Sugar Bowl moved into the cozy (and warmer) confines of the Superdome, for those younger folks.

According to reports, snowplows were used to clear the field at old Tulane Stadium before the game started. This was also the 1st meeting between the Crimson Tide and Rebels since 1944, almost a full 20 years, and a Tide quarterback by the name of Joe Namath didn’t play that day because he was suspended about a month earlier.

No matter. Bama still found a way to win, as it mostly has in this rivalry, and the teams would go back to their home states to resume playing in their traditional locales. For 1 very cold day in New Orleans, though, the SEC’s most Southern rivalry was staged in Louisiana.

2. 2014 — Rebels pull off a stunner

We fast forward, oh, about a half-century, and top-ranked Alabama ventured to Oxford as about a touchdown favorite against the 11th-ranked Rebels. For a while, it looked like most every Tide-Rebels tussle — as in, Alabama was winning.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the final score that maniacal day in Mississippi. The Tide’s 14-3 halftime lead evaporated. Alabama was held to 3 points in the 2nd half. And late in the 4th quarter, the Rebels scored the go-ahead touchdown only to miss the extra point, leaving the score 23-17.

It got better — and weirder. Bama drove to Ole Miss’ 32-yard line, but quarterback Blake Sims (yeah, Tide fans, remember him?) threw a crushing interception to Senquez Golson with 37 seconds left. So the final score was 23-17.

It was Ole Miss’ 1st victory in the rivalry since 2003, snapping its losing streak to Bama at 10. Naturally and very ironically, due to sanctions, this win was vacated in 2019 because of the Rebels’ use of ineligible players.

3. 2015 — Lightning strikes again

The following year in Tuscaloosa, 2nd-ranked Alabama wanted revenge. But it didn’t get it.

The 15th-ranked Rebels took a 30-10 lead late in the 3rd quarter, but naturally, the Tide weren’t done. They closed to within 30-24 early in the 4th quarter. Ole Miss answered with 13 straight points to go up 43-24, but then Bama came back again before the Rebels held the Tide off for a 43-37 upset.

Yes, in a rivalry in which Ole Miss has won only 10 times since it all began in 1894, the Rebels beat the Tide 2 years in a row, and this time at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Tide got what they deserved, too, as they committed 5 turnovers that day, the most ever under Saban.

It was the 1st time in school history that Ole Miss beat Bama in back-to-back seasons, and it was just the 2nd time that the Rebels won in Tuscaloosa, so this one dripped with historical significance.

Of course, the Tide got the ultimate final say later that season, winning their 4th national championship under Saban.

4. 2016 — Order is restored, barely

Yes, top-ranked Alabama prevented Ole Miss from an unprecedented 3rd straight win in the rivalry, but it took everything for the Tide to do it.

The Rebels led 24-3 late in the 1st half in Oxford, but the Tide erupted for 24 straight points to grab a 27-24 lead midway through the 3rd quarter. By the 4th quarter, Bama was up 48-30 and looked to be cruising to victory. But Ole Miss quickly scored twice to cut the deficit to 5 points with a little less than 3 minutes left.

But Bama was able to get to the finish line, holding on for a wild and crazy 48-43 victory that brought Ole Miss’ little 2-game win streak in the series to a sudden end.

Alabama’s 21-point comeback tied the 1989 Tide-Rebels game for the biggest comeback in the history of Alabama football.

5. 2007 — Controversy, and another Tide win

Alabama went to Oxford and earned its 4th straight win over Ole Miss, in a rivalry winning streak over the Rebels that would eventually grow to 10.

The Tide, in Saban’s 1st season, scored 10 unanswered points to prevail 27-24, and there were numerous controversial calls by the officials that day. It was surreal, but it was Ole Miss-Alabama, where things tend to get a little weird — on the field, in the stands and in the pregame tailgate.

After Bama scored those 10 4th-quarter points to take the lead, the defense shut things down and secured the victory. That defensive unit had 3 interceptions to help seal the deal and give Saban his 1st victory over the Rebels as Alabama head coach.

6. 2006 — Overtime in Tuscaloosa

The year before, it took overtime in Tuscaloosa in what would be Bama’s final game against Ole Miss before the Saban Era began.

The game was close throughout and probably deserved overtime anyway. Well, the fans at Bryant-Denny Stadium got the extra helping of drama and stress and then, finally, the usual victory over the Rebels that they’ve come to expect.

In the overtime period, Ole Miss drew 1st blood with a 37-yard field goal by Joshua Shene. But Alabama reached deep and pulled it out when John Parker Wilson (a great Alabama football name from the past) connected with Le’Ron McClain on a 2-yard, game-winning touchdown.

The final score was 26-23, and soon it would be time for Mike Shula to exit stage left as head coach and for Saban to step in.

7. 1989 — A comeback and then a rout

Talk about weird.

The aforementioned 1989 classic between the Tide and Rebels in Jackson was out there — and perfect for this quirky little rivalry.

Ole Miss had pulled a stunner over Alabama in 1988, and it looked to be on its way to an unlikely 2nd straight win over the Tide. The Rebels shot out to a 21-0 lead at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, and that looked to be it for Bama.

But it wasn’t. Not even close.

All Alabama did that day was score an absurd 62 straight points to win 62-27 before a stunned crowd.

The Tide ended up being SEC co-champions that year with Auburn and Tennessee, but the early October stunner in Jackson was a highlight for that year and for all time.

The comeback would be duplicated in the rivalry 27 years later, but the Comeback of ’89 was breathtaking and astonishing.

8. 2020 — Tons of points and the usual result

After 3 straight Bama blowout wins in the rivalry, it was time to get weird again, appropriately in the strange Year of COVID when the season started late and was shortened.

This was Kiffin’s 1st season at Ole Miss, and he was aiming to bring a little order to this lopsided rivalry.

At halftime, it was already 21-21, and the lighting up of the scoreboard was just getting started in Oxford. Rebels quarterback Matt Corral and Tide QB Mac Jones continued to lead their teams up and down the field during the 2nd half, and neither team led this crazy game by more than a touchdown until late in the 4th quarter, when a 14-yard touchdown run by wideout DeVonta Smith put the Tide up by 11.

That was basically it, as Bama’s cushion was finally established and it earned the ridiculous 63-48 victory in what was — not surprisingly — the highest-scoring game in the history of the rivalry.

9. 1969 — A classic in Birmingham

Apparently, this early October game at Legion Field is often referred to as the 1st prime-time regular-season football game in history, and it wasn’t.

No matter.

A ranked Rebels team traveled to Birmingham to face a ranked Tide team, and all hell broke loose. A guy named Archie Manning was all over the field that day, giving Ole Miss a chance to beat Bama for the 2nd straight year.

Manning threw for an insane 540 yards and 5 touchdowns. But it wasn’t quite enough, as the Tide hung on for a 33-32 victory after a last-minute TD pass by quarterback Scott Hunter.

This chapter of the Ole Miss-Alabama rivalry has often been referred to as being among the greatest college football games ever played — in any rivalry, between any teams. And that’s a fact, unlike the false 1st prime-time game thing.

10. 1988 — A Tide loss and a brick?

We end our list with, what else, a weird occurrence.

The Rebels stunned the 12th-ranked Tide, 22-12, that day in Tuscaloosa.

It was Ole Miss’ only victory in the rivalry in a span of 16 games, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt in Alabama, and it definitely hurt 2nd-year Crimson Tide head coach Bill Curry.

It was the Rebels’ 1st road victory in the series, and it took almost 100 years to get.

But that’s not even why it was notable, or why it made our list. The game will forever be known as “The Brick Bowl,” because of a claim by Curry that a brick was thrown through his office window following the loss.

We don’t doubt Curry’s claim — not just because it’s so out there, but why would he make something like that up?

But it’s also Ole Miss-Alabama, a rivalry that’s full of wonderful charm, full of mostly Alabama victories and full of … weirdness.

We’ll soon see what Nov. 12 has in store for us in Oxford.