Ah, the day after the Egg Bowl. Twitter was ablaze and half of Mississippi canceled Christmas with zero regard for the feelings of the children. Mississippi State is headed for a bowl, though not nearly as good as the one fans assumed they were headed for before Thursday night. Ole Miss finished its season and is waiting its NCAA fate.

Not even the NCAA can put any damper on how Ole Miss and its fan base woke up feeling Friday morning after a 31-28 win in the Egg Bowl.

That feeling won’t go away any time soon.

Here are 10 things fans will never forget about the 2017 Ole Miss season.

1. The Egg Bowl

The Egg Bowl was Ole Miss’s bowl game. Shirts are about to be hot of the presses and fans are ecstatic. It’s the most important game of any year, never moreso than this year.

Fans will remember the win, but fans of both teams will remember the images. The funniest image was Breeland Speaks grinning and waving after recovering a fumble. The morality police are in an uproar over other sights.

For those of us who take life a little less seriously, Ole Miss receiver DK Metcalf hiking his leg on the Bulldogs’ field after scoring a second-half touchdown and Mississippi State LB Leo Lewis blowing a kiss to Ole Miss players prior to the game were comedy gold. Surely all the holy-rollers condemning such behavior will all be at Sunday School on Sunday morning. Like the actions amid the heat and pressure or not, the images will live in Egg Bowl infamy.

2. Hired or not, Matt Luke did what only a Rebel could have done

I don’t know what all Matt Luke said pregame Thursday, but it is almost certain that only a coach who played in the Egg Bowl and grew up a Rebel could have delivered the words that helped lead to the result.

Ole Miss opened as a 17.5-point dog on the road in a nasty, hostile and hateful environment. The win gave Ole Miss six for the season. The Rebels lost by one to Arkansas and seven to Texas A&M – that close to eight wins in a season the NCAA has done everything in its power to devour.

It took an Ole Miss guy to find six wins amid all the turmoil. Neither Mike Norvell, Charlie Strong nor Mike MacIntyre could have done more. The players reaction to Luke after the game spoke volumes. Luke made his share of mistakes, but only a Rebel could have kept this team fighting like it did.

He deserves to at least be in the final running, and plenty of people think he deserves the job.

3. A.J. Brown becomes best recruit of all time

Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Hugh Freeze brought in some of the best players Ole Miss fans could have ever imagined. A.J. Brown (above) tops the list. The sophomore became Ole Miss’s all-time leading receiver with 75 catches for 1,252 yards and 11 touchdowns.

He caught six for 167 and a touchdown in his first game in Starkville since leaving Starkville High for Oxford in a move that shocked his hometown. Brown was seen on camera uttering “this is my city” during the Egg Bowl. He’ll be remembered for a lot of jukes and a lot of yards for a lot of years to come.

4. The NCAA cloud hanging over the season

Ole Miss kept waiting for the NCAA to hand down a ruling. The season is over and it still hasn’t happened. That black could followed Ole Miss all season. For every handful of questions players and coaches had to answer about actual football, they had to answer a couple about the NCAA investigation. The hope was to have the verdict before the games started or at least before SEC play. That never happened.

5. The resignation of Hugh Freeze

Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

It seemed to happen so suddenly. One day, Hugh Freeze was riding with the Rebel Road Trip talking to fans across the South and remaining defiant for his program. The next day, news broke that he had resigned amid school and personal turbulence.

Freeze brought unprecedented success to Ole Miss. His sudden departure was abrupt and did not allow time for fans to thank the man for the good he did in Oxford – and there is a lot of evidence of that.

6. How much the Rebels liked the drama

You would think a team going through what Ole Miss was going through all season wouldn’t want extra dramatics. Not the case. It took a late touchdown to beat Kentucky. Ole Miss didn’t score in the second half against Texas A&M and lost by a touchdown. It lead Arkansas 31-7 only to lose by a point. The Rebels were up by 18 twice in the Egg Bowl and won by a field goal.

7. Embracing nothing-to-lose attitude

Ole Miss sort of had nothing to lose all season. There was no bowl to shoot for. But as long as there were games to play, there was still something left to accomplish. Ahead of Thursday’s Egg Bowl, there was nothing left on the schedule afterward. Ole Miss played like it, and Mississippi State wasn’t ready for the determination.

8. Jordan Wilkins embodied ‘team’

Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

The Ole Miss running back did not get to play as a junior because of what amounted to a clerical error by the university. Wilkins never complained and worked last season as if he were going to suit up each Saturday. He needed 99 yards against Mississippi State – the No. 23 rushing defense in the country — to break 1,000 for the season. He did so with 110 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

Wilkins became the first Rebel since Dexter McCluster in 2009 to rush for more than 1,000 yards. He embodied team, and if anyone ever deserved to be in the school’s Hall of Fame, Wilkins does, as much for his character as for his numbers.

9. Another year, another quarterback goes down

Shea Patterson’s potential to light up scoreboards was one of the few saving graces to a season in the crapper before it began. When Patterson went down for the season against LSU, he led the SEC with 2,259 passing yards.

Jordan Ta’amu entered and in five starts threw for 1,682 yards, 11 touchdowns and four picks. He threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns against the SEC’s fourth-best pass defense in the Egg Bowl. It will be quite the quarterback battle in 2018.

10. Back to some reality

Ole Miss beat Alabama back-to-back in 2014-15. As high a note as the Rebels ended on with Thursday’s Egg Bowl win, the 66-3 loss at Alabama showed the Rebels are still looking for consistency on the highest level. Six wins is far from the Cotton Bowl, but the Egg Bowl win was a step in the right direction to get back on track.

After Thursday’s victory, the Rebels’ relevancy in Mississippi is undisputed.