OXFORD — The last time Ole Miss played in two consecutive New Year’s Day bowl games, 18 was just a jersey number and not the campus speed limit. A quarterback named Manning — Archie, not Eli — was becoming a legend. The Rebels’ helmets were powder, and not navy, blue.

Finally, that 40-year streak is coming to an end. After Saturday’s wild 25-23 win over LSU, Ole Miss all but locked up a trip to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando on Jan. 1. A win over Mississippi State on Saturday — as well as an Alabama win over Auburn on Friday — would guarantee it.

It would be the first time since the 1969 and ‘70 seasons that Ole Miss has played in a January bowl game in back-to-back seasons. Ole Miss beat Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas last season.

“It’s awesome,” Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said. “I can’t wait, for our players. But we’ve got to focus in. We’ve got one more little deal here.”

The Capital One Bowl was one of five that sent officials to Oxford on Saturday. Representatives from the Outback, Chick-fil-A, Sugar and Cotton Bowls were also in attendance. Only the Chick-fil-A is not a January bowl.

“We would love to have Ole Miss come to Orlando. You guys travel to the game, and we’d love to bring some of what we’ve seen today to Orlando,” Tom Wert, a member of the Capital One Bowl selection committee, said after Saturday’s game. “We would love to have you because you’ve never been to our game. Our experience today has been that if you do come, it’d be a great time.”

The Capital One Bowl takes the top Southeastern Conference team that isn’t playing in a BCS bowl and pits them against the second-place team from the Big Ten. By beating LSU, Ole Miss moved into second place in the SEC West, and third in the SEC. A win over Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl would lock up that spot for Ole Miss.

One of the few scenarios that would keep Ole Miss away from Orlando is an Auburn upset of Alabama on Friday, or Florida losing to Florida State on Saturday. Alabama and Florida play each other in the SEC championship game on Dec. 5. A two-loss Alabama or Florida team could slip out of the BCS picture and end up in the Capital One Bowl ahead of Ole Miss. The Rebels, then, would most likely earn return trip to the Cotton Bowl.

Barring a major upset, though, the Cotton Bowl bid will probably go to the winner of Saturday’s Arkansas-LSU game in Baton Rouge.

“It would be hard not to take Alabama,” Wert said with a smile.

No matter the destination, whether it be Orlando, Dallas or Tampa, the enormity of the accomplishment was not lost on the Rebels’ players and coaches.

Just two years ago the program was in turmoil. Head coach Ed Orgeron was fired after a disastrous 3-9 season and Houston Nutt was brought in to turn things around. He did, going 9-4 and beating Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.

That led to a top-10 preseason ranking, which got as high as No. 4 before a loss to South Carolina. The Rebels were a mediocre 5-3 after a 33-20 loss at Auburn on Halloween, but have won three in a row since then. The winning streak has put the program in the top tier of the SEC. Ole Miss, Alabama and Florida are the only three teams from the conference that are guaranteed to play in a January bowl in 2008 and 2009.

“After we lost to South Carolina, a lot of people didn’t think we were going to win another conference game,” Nutt said. “That’s what I love about this team. We didn’t let go of the rope. We’ve got a lot character. When you lose, it’s tough to handle. But I love the journey we’ve had.”

*

Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com