Ole Miss fans love to relish in the glory days, so it can be easy to forget about the dark days in Rebel sports history. In honor of Ole Miss Football’s Halloween game against Auburn on Saturday, here are the five worst Ole Miss performances that still haunt Rebel fans.
No. 5 — Men’s Basketball 2008 SEC/Big East Challenge Loss to Louisville
In 2008, Rebel basketball traveled to Cincinnati to take on Louisville for the SEC/Big East matchup, and the Rebels lost 77-68. However, the score does not necessarily reflect the circumstances that surrounded the matchup.
The night before the game, Rebels head coach Andy Kennedy was arrested and charged with assault on his cab driver. Bill Armstrong, who served as coordinator of operations, was thrown out of a bar, arrested and charged with disorderly conduct toward the driver.
Despite the pregame chaos, the Rebels fought hard and kept the game close, but production fell off late. The last bucket that the Rebels made came from Rebel legend Chris Warren, a 3-pointer with 5:29 left in the game.
To make matters worse, Warren tore his ACL in the final minutes of the game and missed the rest of the season.
Overall, both the loss and the events that surrounded the game leave the sequence as one Rebel fans would rather forget.
No. 4 — Football comes up short to Arkansas on Nov. 3, 2001
After a total of seven overtimes and what, at the time, was the longest football game in NCAA history, the Rebels, led by Eli Manning and coach Houston Nutt lost to the Razorbacks in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium 58-56.
The game went back and forth, and at halftime, the score was even at seven points each, and regulation ended 17-17. In overtime, both the Rebels and the Razorbacks remained knotted up.
At the end of the seventh overtime, the Rebels were down 58-56 and needed a two-point conversion to stay in the game. Faced with pressure, Manning completed a pass to Doug Zeigler, but Zeigler was tackled short of the goal line and the Rebels lost.
It still stings Rebel fans to know that Ole Miss came so close to a historic victory.
No. 3 — Football blown out 65-0 in 1915 Egg Bowl
The Rebels have seen their fair share of both positive and negative moments during the history of the Egg Bowl, but the 1915 Egg Bowl blowout was a true nightmare for the Rebels. The 65-0 loss stands as the biggest loss for the Rebels in the history of the rivalry.
Ole Miss had not played Mississippi State — which was called Mississippi A&M at the time — in three years before this game.
The contest took place on Nov. 6, 1915, in Tupelo, Miss., before a crowd of 6,000 people. The vast majority of both student bodies were in attendance.
No. 2 — LSU slaughters the Rebels 52-3 in 2011 Magnolia Bowl
The 2011 edition of the Magnolia Bowl was one of the worst showings for the Rebels in the history of the rivalry.
In Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, the Rebels lost two fumbles and quarterback Zack Stoudt threw an interception. The Rebels had just 148 rushing yards, while the Tigers had 353.
Perhaps the saddest moment for the Rebels came with just five minutes left in the game. The Tigers had the ball on the Rebels’ 1-yard line and faced first-and-goal, but rather than run up the score, the Tigers opted to keep the clock running and intentionally did not score.
A loss never looks good, but when the Rebels got the ball back due to LSU’s mercy, it was not a good look.
No. 1 — Valparaiso upsets the No. 4 seed Rebels in the 1998 March Madness
Expectations were high for the men’s basketball in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, but these high hopes were ultimately squashed when the Rebels lost 70-69 thanks to a last-second buzzer beater by No. 13 seed Valparaiso.
Keith Carter led the Rebels with 22 points, and Ansu Sesay added 11 points to keep the score tight throughout the game. With under 30 seconds to play, the Rebels held a 69-67 lead, and Sesay was sent to the line with just 4.1 seconds left in the ballgame.
Sesay missed both free throws, and Valparaiso inbounded the ball with a long football pass. As time expired, Bryce Drew heaved a successful deep 3-pointer. Valparaiso won, 70-69.
That swish was the final dagger for the Rebels, and the unfortunate upset to end the season makes it the No. 1 scariest Rebel performance for fans to relive.
