Morning Report: Can Ole Miss Avoid COVID-19 Turmoil?

Welcome to the Tuesday, Dec. 28 edition of the Morning Report. Here's what's happening in the world of Ole Miss athletics.

Key Headlines

Ole Miss Changes Bowl Game Travel Plans Amid COVID-19 Spikes Across Country

Lane Kiffin Addresses Media to Begin Sugar Bowl Week

A Look at Ole Miss' Storied Bowl Game History

Sugar, Peach and Cotton: A Look Through Ole Miss' NY6 Bowls in the 21st Century

Ole Miss Athletics' 2021 Christmas Wish List

What Baylor QB Will Ole Miss Face in the Sugar Bowl?

NFL Rebels: How Did Ole Miss Alumni Perform in Week 16?

Morning Column: As College Football Spins Toward COVID Chaos, Can Ole Miss Avoid the Turmoil?

After a season that was largely void of any hiccups due to COVID-19, it appeared that college sports might have largely put the pandemic behind them.

Now, with the onset of bowl season, that is no longer a reality.

Numerous college programs have been hit with the chaos brought on by yet another variant of the coronavirus with the Hawai'i, Barstool, Fenway and Military Bowls all being impacted by the pandemic.

Lane Kiffin stated on Monday in media availability that his team has also had issues with COVID, but, as has been the case during his tenure in Oxford, he would not go into specifics about which players were involved in COVID protocols.

"COVID is still around and has been an issue that we're dealing with," Kiffin said. "We pushed back as long as we could before going down there. We will be [in New Orleans] eventually. We're not going to get into the number of that or the details, but we do. We're doing the best that we can to manage it."

With the current climate of college athletics, this begs the question: Can Ole Miss dodge the COVID bullet and still compete in the Allstate Sugar Bowl?

The current signs seem to indicate the answer to that is "yes." Although Kiffin would not go into details about specific players, he did continue to discuss a trip to New Orleans as being in the Rebels' plans. While that may be coach speak, and I may be reading too much into the comment, it seemed like a good sign nonetheless.

Let's not mince words here: this is a big opportunity for Ole Miss. Win or lose, Kiffin's program gets a chance to compete on a national stage in the same place it was at the end of the 2015 season before the pitfalls of an NCAA investigation took away all of the program's steam and then some.

If you lose the Sugar Bowl, no big deal. Kiffin wants to win, sure, but it's not program-cratering. You still finished the season with 10 wins in your second year in Oxford.

If he wins the Sugar Bowl, however, that's icing on the cake. Not getting to play in the game at all takes away the simple opportunity of the nation's eyes being on your program, new uniforms and all, on the night of Jan. 1.

Also, not to put the cart before the horse, but let's say that Ole Miss is able to play in the Sugar Bowl and even win it. If the Rebels are able to continue some semblance of momentum next season after losing Matt Corral to the NFL Draft, this program might be reaching a place that it hasn't in a long, long time. As I wrote about a week ago, three seasons following a New Year's Six bowl berth for Ole Miss this century have ended in a losing record.

Ole Miss went to the Cotton Bowl in the 2003 season. It finished 2004 with a record of 4-7. It returned to the Cotton Bowl in 2008 and 2009. It finished 2010 with a record of 4-8. Then, of course, there's the Sugar Bowl in the 2015 season followed by a 5-7 record in 2016.

If Kiffin can win the Sugar Bowl, or even play in it, and keep some steam in 2022, this is his program. It already is, in a sense, but he will have done something that many of his Ole Miss predecessors have not.

That's why this Sugar Bowl is important for Ole Miss. On the surface, that should go without saying. Fans want to win it as do the players and coaches. That much is evident.

But simply playing the game is also important, and with the current climate of COVID-19 in college athletics, it's important for Ole Miss to avoid any hiccups that would make that impossible.

Upcoming Games

Football

Allstate Sugar Bowl Jan. 1 vs. No. 7 Baylor

Men's Basketball

Dec. 29 vs. Florida

Women's Basketball

Dec. 30 vs. Arkansas (POSTPONED due to COVID-19)

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