The 1960 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

during the 1960 NCAA University Division football season. In their fourteenth season under head coach

Johnny Vaught John Howard Vaught (May 6, 1909 – February 3, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) from 1947 to 1970 and aga ...

, the Rebels compiled a 10–0–1 record and won their fourth

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) championship. Their only blemish was a 6–6 tie against

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. Mississippi was the only major-conference team in the nation that finished the season undefeated on the field (

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

subsequently was credited with an undefeated season when its lone loss to

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

was erased by forfeit). The final Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) polls placed the Rebels second and third, respectively, behind the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

who were voted national champions before the bowl games. The major "wire-service" polls changed this policy following the 1965 season. The final AP poll of November 29 was one of the closest ever: Minnesota with 17½ first-place votes, Mississippi 16, and Iowa 12½. Students made “AP” and “UPI” dummies, hung them from the Union Building, and burned them while chanting, “We’re No. 1, to hell with AP and UPI.” The No. 1 Gophers, however, subsequently lost the Rose Bowl to No. 6

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Meanwhile, No. 2 Ole Miss defeated Rice, 14–6, in the Sugar Bowl. Quarterback

Jake Gibbs Jerry Dean "Jake" Gibbs (born November 7, 1938) is a former Major League Baseball player who played for the New York Yankees as a platoon catcher from 1962 to 1971. Although Gibbs was the regular starting catcher for New York in 1967 and 1968, h ...

was voted the game's MVP by scoring two rushing touchdowns. After the New Year's Day bowl games, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) voted Mississippi as

national champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...

and awarded them the Grantland Rice Trophy.

Schedule

In the

Egg Bowl The Egg Bowl (traditionally named the “Battle for the Golden Egg”) is the name given to the Mississippi State–Ole Miss football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry game played annually between Southeastern Conference membe ...

, Ole Miss beat

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

, 35–9. Ole Miss held the lead in the series with 29 wins, 24 losses and 4 ties. In the

Magnolia Bowl The Magnolia Bowl is name given to the LSU–Ole Miss football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the LSU Tigers football team of Louisiana State University (LSU) and the Ole Miss Rebels football tea ...

, Ole Miss tied

, 6–6. LSU held the lead in the series with 27 wins, 20 losses, and 2 ties.

Roster

*E Johnny Lee Brewer *QB

1961 NFL Draft

Awards and honors

, Sugar Bowl Most Valuable Player *

, SEC Coach of the Year

References

Ole Miss Ole Miss Rebels football seasons College football national champions Southeastern Conference football champion seasons Sugar Bowl champion seasons College football undefeated seasons

Ole Miss Rebels football The Ole Miss Rebels football program represents the University of Mississippi, also known as "Ole Miss". The Rebels compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division of ...

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