The play will live in infamy at Ole Miss.

The Rebels lost a chance to win their first SEC title since 1963.

It was fourth-and-25 for Arkansas in overtime. If the Razorbacks didn’t convert, Ole Miss wins and remains in control in the SEC West with only two games remaining in the regular season.

The Rebels had Hunter Henry pinned against the sideline, 15 yards short of the first down. But Henry blindly threw the ball backward as he fell to the ground. The ball bounced up into the hands of Alex Collins, the Hogs’ star running back.

Collins ran for the first down. The Hogs went on to win the game.

Ole Miss recovered to beat LSU and Mississippi State, but the damage had been done. Alabama, which lost to the Rebels in Tuscaloosa, advanced to the SEC Championship Game.

As it turned out, one fluky play cost the Rebels a chance to avenge a loss to Florida — this time without Will Grier — a first SEC Championship Game appearance and a shot at their first conference championship since Archie Manning was in junior high.

Playing in a division with Alabama, LSU and Auburn — teams that have combined for five national titles in the last nine seasons — and in a conference that includes Florida – two national titles during the same period — Ole Miss can’t expect too many chances as good as the one that slipped away this season.

The Rebels had a great season — they beat Alabama, Auburn and LSU in the same season for the first time in history.

As they proved winning at Alabama, the Rebels can match up with any team in the country.

Quarterback Chad Kelly and WR Laquon Treadwell have been spectacular. Linemen Laremy Tunsil and Robert Nkemdiche will be first-round NFL Draft picks.

But the Rebels had two terrible performances. The first, two weeks after beating Alabama, they were thrashed by Florida 38-10. An early Ole Miss fumble — the first of four Rebels turnovers — helped the Gators jump out to a big lead.

The Rebels had the misfortune of playing the Gators before Grier’s suspension, which sent the Gators offense into a downward spiral that ended with it scoring only 45 points in its last four games.

Paxton Lynch blistered the Ole Miss secondary for 384 yards and three TDs in the 37-24 loss at then-unbeaten Memphis. A Kelly interception and a costly fourth-down gamble by Hugh Freeze resulted in two Memphis TDs.

So Ole Miss wasn’t a national title contender. The Rebels lacked a solid running game to complement Kelly and the conference’s most-productive passing game. The defense was inconsistent, giving up 37 or more points four times.

Tunsil was suspended for the first seven games. Nkemdiche and Tony Conner suffered injuries.

The Rebels’ loss to Memphis rocked the conference. The way the Rebels lost to Arkansas rocked the nation.

There’s a legitimate debate about how the pressure of holding the lead in the West would have affected the Rebels’ play against LSU and Mississippi State. And yes, one play is often the difference between a good season and a championship season.

But take away Arkansas’ fourth-down miracle, and the Rebels — not Alabama — would be playing this weekend in Atlanta.

Years from now, Ole Miss will still be lamenting the lateral that may have cost the Rebels an SEC championship.