Ole Miss in Sugar Bowl for first time since 1970
By Parrish Alford
Daily Journal
Oxford, MS
Mike Gundy’s cell service was a little lacking on Saturday, but his Oklahoma State coaches kept him informed.
A major college football upset landed a surprised Oklahoma State team in the Sugar Bowl, while the avoidance of another upset confirmed that Ole Miss would be there too.
The Sugar Bowl had been on the radar of many Ole Miss fans since the Rebels’ 38-27 win at rival Mississippi State in the regular season finale.
The push began even earlier for Ole Miss athletics director Ross Bjork. He called it a “signature moment” for Ole Miss football.
“Right after the LSU game I was walking back to the locker room with the team. I grabbed a couple of seniors and said, ‘OK guys, here’s the deal. We beat Mississippi State and get some help, and we could be in the Sugar Bowl. How about that, ending your senior year in the Sugar Bowl?’”
Excitement spiked higher last Tuesday when Ole Miss was the second of five SEC teams ranked by the College Football Playoff committee – five spots higher than Florida in the third spot. If the SEC champion is in the playoff, the committee’s second-highest ranked conference team gets the Sugar bid.
All that was left for an Ole Miss spot in the Sugar was to sit back and cheer for heavily favored Alabama against Florida in the SEC championship game.
“It was very hard to contain the excitement, the enthusiasm and the anticipation,” Freeze said. “We didn’t know how the SEC championship game was going to go. It’s great that it’s finally official and that we can celebrate with our team, coaches and great fans.”
Ole Miss is making its first Sugar Bowl trip since 1970. It’s been much longer than that for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys last played in the game in 1946.
For Oklahoma State, returning to the Sugar Bowl required unranked Texas upsetting No. 12 Baylor on the road.
That reduced the Big 12’s second-place tie from three teams to two, and Oklahoma State, having beaten TCU in the regular season, earned the bid.
With such a wide gap between Sugar appearances Gundy was OK with waiting just a little longer for the news.
“I was at an 11-year-old basketball tournament in a small town in Oklahoma. They did not have cell service, and I was unaware of what was transpiring between Baylor and Texas,” Gundy said. “When I came out I drove down the road, and my phone starting dinging with a bunch of texts. I was getting play-by-play from the coaches on our staff.”