This might be the only time in Mississippi history when fruit is the most popular food group in the state.

Fried is definitely up there, and meat isn’t far behind, but fruit is No. 1 in the Magnolia State right now. More specifically peaches and oranges, as Ole Miss and Mississippi State venture off to bowl paradise to play in the biggest games in their respective school’s recent histories.

Ole Miss is no doubt enjoying a few Sweetwater Blues in Atlanta as the Rebels gear up for the Peach Bowl against TCU. On paper it’s the most compelling bowl matchup of the season outside the national playoff games. You’ve got the best scoring defense in the country going up against an offense that is unbelievably good even by Big 12 standards. The Horned Frogs have reinvented themselves as an offensive juggernaut behind quarterback Trevone Boykin, abandoning their identity as a soul-crushing defensive team that can suffocate you at will. That title has now gone to the Rebels, whose Landshark defense swam circles around most everybody else. Scoring more than 20 on Ole Miss is about as rare as a shark attack in the Mississippi River.

Then in Miami, where Mississippi State fans are eating oranges beachside with a newly legal Cuban cigar, Dak Prescott and his band of brothers will take aim at Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl. The Bulldogs have enjoyed their best season ever, and picturing Dak riding on a jet ski with Josh Robinson in the backseat has made it even better. MSU is hoping to add to its 10-2 record with a New Year’s Eve bowl win that would salvage a bitter Egg Bowl defeat to the aforementioned Rebels and punctuate a season that nobody could have seen coming.

That goes for both state schools.

Sure, we expected them to be good. Hugh Freeze had plenty of healthy weapons in his deep offensive arsenal, and Dan Mullen was relishing in Prescott’s growing talent, but Ole Miss and Mississippi State enjoyed seasons that we’ll be talking about 50 years from now.

So that’s why it won’t matter what happens when everyone wakes up Jan. 1. If you’re in New York watching the ball drop in Times Square or in Vicksburg watching the giant nugget drop at Chick-fil-A, if you’re a fan of either team, you’ll get out of bed with a smile (and maybe a slight hangover). It would be nice to win, but the bowls are simply nice bows that wrap amazing seasons by these intrastate SEC rivals.

Enjoy it, bathe in it, and soak it all in.

With the way the college basketball season is going in Mississippi right now, it might be the last thing you have to celebrate until baseball season.

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Cory Gunkel is a reporter. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, Ext. 178, or by email at cory.gunkel@vicksburgpost.com