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Analyst Ranks Two Ole Miss Games in Top-50 CFB Rivalries

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Levi Dombro | Last updated Jul 9, 2025 4:48 PM ET

The Ole Miss football program has enjoyed a revival in the last five years under head coach Lane Kiffin. The two decades prior to his arrival were marked by inconsistency and NCAA violations, with the occasional success sprinkled in.

No matter how strong the Rebels are performing, however, they play in the most exciting conference in the country, the SEC. Rivalries are abundant given the teams' proximity to each other and rabid fan bases that come to support.

Ole Miss has been in the SEC since 1933, but has only won six conference championships and one National Championship, which occurred in 1960.

Still, somehow, the Rebels have developed two of the most historic rivalries in all of the sport. The Athletic's Scott Dochterman ranked the top 100 best rivalries in college football, and Ole Miss landed two on the list.

Ranked No. 43 was their rivalry with the LSU Tigers, which has stood since 1894 and featured a whopping 113 matchups between the two schools.

"A staple of Deep South football, these teams have played annually since 1935 (save for World War II) and have competed for the Magnolia Trophy since 2008. It’s a series deeply embedded in the cultures of both fan bases," Dochterman wrote.

At No. 23 was the Rebels' geographic rival, the Mississippi State Bulldogs. These two programs have played each other 121 times since they first faced off in 1901.

"Every in-state rivalry has a distinguishing characteristic, and this one is no exception. The history, longevity and the willingness to move the game to Jackson for nearly two decades to accommodate more fans make it a true people’s rivalry. It may be the best current rivalry without regular championship implications," Dochterman wrote.

The Egg Bowl is always a spectacle in the state of Mississippi. Most Rebels fans will remember where they were when Ole Miss took down Dak Prescott and the No. 4 Mississippi State Bulldogs in the 2014 Egg Bowl, ruining their chances of making the inaugural College Football Playoff.

Ole Miss will host the LSU Tigers this year in Oxford on September 27. They will travel to Starkville to take on Mississippi State on November 28.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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