Alabama Football: Rivalry with Ole Miss Growing
After years of dominating Ole Miss, Alabama football is beginning to build a rivalry with the Rebels off the field as well.
Alabama football hasn’t considered Ole Miss a serious threat since the days of Johnny Vaught. While Vaught had a losing record (6-7-1) against Paul “Bear” Bryant, it was by a slim margin and Vaught was able to win three national championships with the Rebels. The Rebels fell on hard times after that, though, while the Tide went on adding national championships. While Ole Miss still boasts three, Alabama football is now credited with 16 national championships. But things have turned in recent years.
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Three years ago Ole Miss was set to poise a challenge against Alabama in Tuscaloosa. They boasted a top 5 recruiting class and were undefeated heading into Tuscaloosa. Many fans felt the game would be a good one. Alabama played tough defense and ran the football en route to a dominant 25-0 victory.
Two years ago Ole Miss was again set to poise a challenge to SEC West kingpin Alabama. Both teams had dominant defenses and the Rebels had already survived a test against Boise State. College Gameday appeared for the first time ever in Oxford and the Rebels staged a 4th quarter comeback to defeat the Tide 23-17. Alabama football fans wrote it off as an anomaly and luck for the Rebels, especially considering the Tide still won the SEC.
Last year Ole Miss had the opportunity to prove their 2014 victory over the Alabama football team was no fluke. They were given a night game in Tuscaloosa to showcase their beliefs. Many predicted that Saban would get his revenge, as his record is immaculate in revenge scenarios. Instead the Rebels survived a late flurry, after sending many fans home early, to pull out another one score victory to the tune of 43-37.
Now the Rebels of Ole Miss have shown they can win playing “Alabama football” (2014) and via the high scoring affair Freeze seems to prefer (2015). All this sets up an intriguing matchup for when the Tide return to Oxford on September 17. But it’s beginning to have serious rivalry characteristics that haven’t been seen between these two teams in decades.
In a story fitting of the Iron Bowl, Tom Brokaw (the retired NBC reporter) threw an insult out at Alabama during The University of Mississippi’s commencement address this past Saturday. He joked, “”I’m so relieved to be speaking to a graduating class from Ole Miss . . . If I were speaking at Alabama, I would have to use smaller words and shorter sentences.”
Of course, The University of Alabama wasn’t going to sit idly by and take the insult. Alabama responded with the following statement:
“Thirty-six percent of the freshman class at the University of Alabama has an ACT score of 30 or higher. This places Alabama in the top 5 percent in the country. Our numbers speak for themselves.”
More sec: SEC Football: High or Low with Athlon Top 25
It appears the people at Alabama let Mr. Brokaw get under their skin just a little bit. Something tells me if Alabama football wasn’t on an 0-2 skid to Ole Miss, the comment would have gone unnoticed. How can you not love the SEC?