OXFORD, Miss. – For the first time since 2015, Ole Miss is going bowling.
The Rebels have accepted an invitation to play in the Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and will face Indiana (6-1) out of the Big Ten Conference. The game is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 2 at 11:30 a.m. CT and will air on ABC.
“We are excited and honored to be back in the postseason and making our first appearance in the Outback Bowl,” said Keith Carter, Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics. “Congratulations to our players, coaches and staff on earning an invitation to one of the marquee bowls.
“There is a strong Ole Miss alumni base in Florida, and this trip offers a great opportunity to join the Rebel family in the Sunshine State. It also provides a chance to compete in one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country.”
“Taking this team back to a bowl game is a good first step in our progression toward building a championship program,” said Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. “We look forward to representing our university on this national stage against a top-10 opponent in Indiana. The Outback Bowl is a premier postseason destination, and I’m excited for our players to experience this trip.
“Tampa is a special place for our family. My parents spent many years there, and I attended a number of games in the Big Sombrero when I was younger. It will be great to be back in the Bay.”
Ole Miss will appear in a bowl for the 37th time in program history. The Rebels’ all-time bowl record stands at 23-13, excluding the 2013 BBVA Compass Bowl victory that was vacated due to NCAA ruling. The Rebels are second in the NCAA in bowl win percentage at .639, trailing only USC’s mark of .642. Elsewhere in the bowl record book, Ole Miss is 16th nationally in bowl wins and 25th in bowl appearances.
The Rebels last went bowling at the end of the 2015 season, when they turned in a 48-20 win over Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. Ole Miss will play in a Jan. 2 bowl for the seventh time in program history and will make its first-ever Outback Bowl appearance. The Rebels are 5-1 in Jan. 2 bowl games and have won their last three contests on that date.
The Rebels will take on a current Big Ten opponent for the third time in their bowl history. Ole Miss fell 35-3 to Michigan in the 1991 Gator Bowl and beat Nebraska—then part of the Big 12 Conference—27-23 in the 2002 Independence Bowl. This will be the first-ever meeting between Ole Miss and Indiana on the football field.