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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Finish Season Ranked No. 20
1/8/2010 | Football
OXFORD, Miss. -- For the second straight year, Ole Miss has finished among the nation's best, as the Rebels earned a No. 20 final national ranking by the Associated Press, as announced Friday. The Rebels were tabbed 21st in the final USA Today Coaches' poll.
This marks the 26th time in Ole Miss' storied football history that the Rebels have appeared in the end-of-the-year rankings in one of the major polls, and for the first time since 1970-71, the team has done it in consecutive years, as last year's squad was voted No. 14 by the AP. Including 2009, the Rebels have placed among the top 20 teams in 23 years and earned national champion distinction in 1959, 1960 and 1962.
Rising as high as No. 4 in the rankings this year, the Rebels knocked off No. 8 LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas en route to a second straight berth in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, in which Ole Miss prevailed over No. 18 Oklahoma State 21-7.
In two years under head coach Houston Nutt, Ole Miss has posted consecutive nine-win seasons for the first time since 1961-62 and back-to-back January bowl victories for the first time since 1960-61.
