The University of Mississippi fields a total of 23 varsity teams. During their early years, they were known as “Mississippi Flood” but were called “Ole Miss Rebels” in 1936.
The Ole Miss Rebels, the athletic teams representing the University of Mississippi, were founded with the establishment of the university’s football team in 1893. Over the years, Ole Miss has become known for its strong presence in collegiate sports, particularly in football, baseball, and basketball. A significant achievement in their history includes the football team’s three national championships in 1959, 1960, and 1962, along with six Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships. In baseball, the Rebels have made multiple appearances in the NCAA Tournament and the College World Series. The women’s basketball team has also been a noteworthy part of Ole Miss athletics, with multiple NCAA tournament appearances. Currently, Ole Miss continues to be a competitive force in the SEC, striving to build upon its rich athletic history and achieve new successes.
What is Ole Miss Rebels?
Ole Miss Rebels represents the athletic teams of the University of Mississippi. Known for their achievements in football, baseball, and basketball, they are a distinguished member of the Southeastern Conference, continually contributing to the dynamic world of college sports.
The Mississippi Rebels logo looks pretty unusual for an athletic crest and has a pronounced retro style. This is especially true for the old logo used in 1970-1996. Here, you could see an old man wearing a long mustache and a red had with wide brims. The words “Ole Miss” in a typeface imitating handwriting could be seen to the left.
The design changed to just the wordmark ‘Ole Miss’. There was a smaller one just like this on the original logo: red hand-written letters with blue outlines.
The color scheme changed to a darker one: dark red and almost black for the outline.
The 1996 emblem has borrowed the lettering from the previous Ole Miss Rebels logo but positioned the two words in a single line.
The team has been named National Champions three times, the last in 1962. Also, they have won six SEC championships so far.
As of 2019, the women’s team has competed in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight five times and has made 17 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
As for the men’s team, the number of appearances in the NCAA Tournament has reached nine, the number of appearances in the National Invitation Tournament has reached 12. Ole Miss was in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen in 2001.
Compared to other athletic programs of the NCAA, the helmet design of the Ole Miss Rebels has changed quite often throughout the years. However, there are only two basic concepts: with the graphical logo and with the script one, and two color palettes: with the navy blue and smooth light blue.
The Ole Miss Rebels helmet design from 1969 was quite modest, yet still elegant due to the use of a navy blue, crimson red, and white color palette. The main color of the helm was blue, with a thick red stripe in the middle, and a player’s number on the side, written in white digits with a red outline and enclosed into a white frame in the shape of a football. The minimalistic grille was set in metallic gray.
In 1970 the design of the Rebels helmets was significantly changed. The main shade was switched to light and smooth blue, and the number of a player was replaced by a graphical emblem, depicting an old elegant man, drawn in red and white. The red of the emblem was supported by the red stripe in the middle of the helmet.
The redesign of 1973 has played with the color palette of the Ole Miss Rebels helmets, switching the light blue shade to the intense navy blue, almost the same as in the concept of 1969. The grille remained metallic.
In 1980 the color of the grille was changed, and now it featured the same intense shade of red, as the decorative details on the helmet. This has made the helmets look more powerful, and the players wearing them — more determined and aggressive.
The new design concept for the Ole Miss Rebels helmets and uniform was adopted in 1983, along with the refreshed color palette, which repeated the one from 1970. The smooth blue helmets featured a thin red stripe in the middle, a delicate silver grille, and a new red emblem on the side. Now it was a bold script “Ole Miss” lettering with the red characters outlined in white.
In 1995 the blue shade was switched to the navy again. And this was not the only change: the silver grille was painted in the same blue, which made the helmets look more modern and stylish, and the players, wearing them — were more visible on the field. The red and white elements remained untouched.
In 2015 the helmet design from 1983 was brought back with just one difference: the shade of blue got a bit darker, creating a stronger contrast between the background and the decorative elements. The grille got back to gray again.
The helmets from 1995 were slightly refined in 2020: with the darker shade of navy blue, used both for the main part of the helmet and the grille. The red elements remained the same, however on a darker background they look stronger too.
The athletes, representing the University of Mississippi always look very elegant, as their uniforms are set in a sophisticated and stylish white, blue, and red color palette. They don’t need heavy graphics or acid shades to catch attention.
The uniforms for the football players of the Ole Miss Rebels athletic program look pretty modest, yet elegant and professional. There are six options of jerseys, which can be divided into three groups: white and navy blue, red and white, and medium blue and white. The jerseys can be combined with one of the two pants: solid white or light gray with blue and red stripes on the sides.
As for the basketball uniform of the University of Mississippi athletes, there are three options: for home games, the players wear white t-shirts and shorts with dark blue stripes on the sides; for the games away the t-shirts and shorts turn navy blue, and the stripes — red; and the alternate version features bright red uniform with navy-blue stripes on the sides.
The University of Mississippi offers its athletic program, composed of 18 men’s and women’s teams, and various sports facilities so that the athletes can train and play in complete comfort.
The home arena of the Ole Miss Rebels football team is the Vaught—Hemingway Stadium, which opened its doors in 1915. The stadium was renovated several times throughout three years, and its capacity expanded up to 64 thousand seats, which makes it the largest arena in Mississippi State.
The Sandy and John Black Pavilion is the home ground of the men’s and women’s basketball teams of the Ole Miss Rebels program. The stadium was opened in 2016, hence it is built with all the modern amenities. The capacity of the pavilion is 9,5 thousand seats.
The home ground of the Ole Miss Rebels baseball team is Swayze Field. The facility was opened in 1988 and expanded twice, in 2003 and 2009, so that today the capacity of the stadium is 12,1 thousand seats.
Ole Miss Rebels athletic program differed from others in the NCAA not only in the variety of football jerseys but also in a rich history of its mascots. Originally it was the Colonel Reb, an elegant old man in a suit and hat, with a white mustache and a serious look. He was first introduced in 1936 and became the official mascot of the athletic program in 1979. However, in 2010 Colonel Reb was replaced by Rebel the Black Bear, a cartoonish creature in a navy blue and red uniform. But the Bear didn’t stay with the athletes for too long, and already in 2018 a new mascot was adopted: Tony the Landshark, an anthropomorphic creature with the head of a sharp, and a human body.
RED
PANTONE: PMS 186 C
HEX COLOR: #CE1126;
RGB: (204, 9, 47)
CMYK: (0, 92, 82, 19)
NAVY BLUE
PANTONE: PMS 2767 C
HEX COLOR: #14213D;
RGB: (22, 43, 72)
CMYK: (67, 46, 0, 76)