ATLANTA - Due to NCAA sanctions, the Ole Miss Rebels are ineligible for a bowl game for a second consecutive football season.
They can still compete in the Egg Bowl.
Ole Miss was 5-6 and a 16-point underdog under interim coach Matt Luke entering last November's regular-season finale at Mississippi State. The rival Bulldogs sported an 8-3 record, which included a 30-point win over LSU and losses to the top-10 trio of Alabama, Auburn and Georgia.
Bulldogs quarterback Nick Fitzgerald dislocated his ankle early in the in-state rivalry, and Ole Miss was able to build a 24-6 lead through three quarters and hold on for an 31-28 upset. Jordan Ta'amu threw for 247 yards for the Rebels, while Jordan Wilkins collected 110 rushing yards and A.J. Brown had 167 receiving yards.
Several days after the Egg Bowl, Luke was given the Ole Miss job on a full-time basis.
"I was really excited about that game for a lot of different reasons, but to me it validated us," Luke said Tuesday at SEC Media Days. "I saw the improvement our team was making, not only on the field but also in our culture. I think the national media in that game got to see the improvement that we made and the team that we were.
"Everybody all year kept looking for us to quit, and I really feel like that game spring-boarded us into the early signing period and allowed us to sign a top-25 recruiting class. I think people were like, 'Maybe these guys aren't going away. These guys are here to stay.' It was a big game for a lot of reasons."
Gators and Vols
Florida and Tennessee combined to go 8-15 last season, but Gators defensive lineman Cece Jefferson believes their annual meeting still packs a punch. The Gators have won 12 of the last 13 games in the series, with Tennessee's 38-28 triumph in Knoxville two years ago snapping an 11-game skid.
"It's a great rivalry," Jefferson said. "When we lost to them and I found out how long the streak was and that I was a part of the team that lost to them, it crushed me, because we used to pummel Tennessee. We used to pummel them back in the day.
"When we lost that game, I thought about all the guys before me who we had just let down. To get the win last year and the way that we did it was something we needed. We're going to start a new streak and try to continue it until the world ends."
Savoring invitations
Multiple player representatives at SEC Media Days admitted to having a goal of getting invited to this annual extravaganza.
Georgia safety J.R. Reed said, "It's one of those things you check off," adding that he imagined himself at such an event as far back as high school. For Bulldogs defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter, his Tuesday appearance in front of the microphones was something he never could have imagined.
Just two years ago, Ledbetter was arrested twice on alcohol-related charges, with his second arrest resulting in him being dropped from the 125-player roster. He was able to rejoin the team but served a six-game suspension at the start of the 2016 season.
"I never would have thought that I would be here," Ledbetter said. "Honestly, I'm just blessed. When they told me I would be at SEC Media Days, I asked how many players were going. I was told, 'There will be three of you,' and I was like, 'OK. That's pretty cool. I just got selected to go to a really prestigious event.'
"Then I heard that (former Georgia quarterback) David Greene once said that he had done the Super Bowl media day and that it was nothing like this one, and then I got nervous."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.