No one is ever going to forget last year’s Iron Bowl or Chris Davis’ “kick six” to end it. It’s one of the greatest games, and greatest moments, in college football history, and may never be surpassed.

But had it not been for the madness taking place on the Plains, another longstanding SEC rivalry game might have been remembered as the best game of the final weekend of the 2013 regular season. While Auburn and ‘Bama battled one state over, Ole Miss and Mississippi State met in the 86th meeting of the Egg Bowl, and the 110th edition of the rivalry overall, and produced one of the great games in the rivalry’s illustrious history.

The Rebels and Bulldogs were tied 7-all at halftime, and Ole Miss clung to a narrow 10-7 leading heading to the fourth quarter of a defensive thriller. With Mississippi State’s offense struggling and Dan Mullen feeling desperate, he pulled Dak Prescott off the bench in the middle of the fourth quarter in search of a spark.

Prescott was ice cold when he entered the game, was nursing a bum shoulder, and was still recovering from the death of his mother not a month earlier.

No matter, he led the Bulldogs on a 64-yard drive, culminating with a game-tying field goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Then, in overtime, he literally moved the team into the end zone for the go-ahead score, throwing or rushing for all 25 yards before capping the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Bo Wallace fumbled the ball away on the Rebels overtime possession, and the rest is history.

Pretty great stuff, huh? This year’s game will be better, and it will be more meaningful, too.

Since that game, the Rebels and Bulldogs have begun the 2014 season with a combined 10-0 record, and are now tied at No. 3 in this week’s AP Top 25. Even if both teams lose an SEC game between now and the final week of the season, their rematch in Egg Bowl 87 could decide a division champion and a berth in the inaugural College Football Playoff.

If things continue to trend the way they are this season, the Egg Bowl will be the defining rivalry game in the SEC this November.

The Iron Bowl should have major playoff implications as well, but fans expecting this year’s game to match, or even top, what last year’s game produced are naive. There’s no topping that game, and even if the Tide and Tigers wanted to, these teams look nothing like they did a year ago.

Key figures from last year’s game like Davis, A.J. McCarron and Tre Mason are no longer at their respective schools. Auburn and Alabama are no longer alone at the top of the college football world.

The circumstances surrounding the game will be less dramatic than a year ago, and the two teams meeting on the field will not be quite as familiar to a national audience. The Iron Bowl should be good, but it’s no Egg Bowl.

The Egg Bowl is a classic from 2013 that can be topped. Dak, the hero, and Bo, the goat who fumbled in overtime, are back for more. So are Laquon Treadwell and Jameon Lewis, Robert Nkemdiche and Chris Jones, Cody Prewitt and Benardrick McKinney.

Coaches Hugh Freeze and Dan Mullen split their first two meetings since arriving in Mississippi, and this year’s rubber match means a great deal to each coach.

All of last year’s difference makers are back, and even if there was nothing but pride on the line this game would still be  slugfest for the ages, pitting two veteran teams with menacing defenses and talented quarterbacks against one another in a rivalry game Mississippians never forget, even decades later.

However, it appears everything will be at stake in this year’s showdown, as it seems unlikely either team will be exiting the national spotlight anytime soon.

Each team has just two games remaining against ranked opponents before facing one another, which is not too bad in the house of horrors that is the daunting SEC West. Furthermore, each team could probably split those two games and still be facing one another with a playoff spot on the line. That margin for error is critical, as it practically guarantees this game will maintain national significance.

It’s safe to say both programs proved last week they can handle the big stage. The stakes have never been higher for both Mississippi schools, and while the Iron Bowl should be another great game that captivates the state of Alabama, it will actually be the Egg Bowl that captivates the rest of the country.

These are not your father’s Rebels or Bulldogs; this is a new era of Magnolia State football, and it’s all going to culminate with the greatest Egg Bowl in history to end the season.