The 1960 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented the University of Mississippi during the 1960 college football season. In their fourteenth season under head coach Johnny Vaught, the Rebels compiled a 10âÂÂ0âÂÂ1 record and won their fourth Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship. Their only blemish was a 6âÂÂ6 tie against LSU. Mississippi was the only major-conference team in the nation that finished the season undefeated on the field (Missouri subsequently was credited with an undefeated season when its lone loss to Kansas 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 who were voted national champions before the bowl games. The AP first named a post-bowl champion in 1965 and made the change permanent in 1968; the UPI continued to name its national champion prior to bowl games through 1973.
The final AP poll of November 29 was one of the closest ever: Minnesota with 17ý first-place votes, Mississippi 16, and Iowa 12ý. Students made âÂÂAPâ and âÂÂUPIâ dummies, hung them from the Union Building, and burned them while chanting, âÂÂWeâÂÂre No. 1, to hell with AP and UPI.â The No. 1 Gophers, however, subsequently lost the Rose Bowl to No. 6 Washington. Meanwhile, No. 2 Ole Miss defeated Rice, 14âÂÂ6, in the Sugar Bowl. Quarterback Jake Gibbs 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 and awarded them the Grantland Rice Trophy.
In the Egg Bowl, Ole Miss beat Mississippi State, 35âÂÂ9. Ole Miss held the lead in the series with 29 wins, 24 losses and 4 ties. In the Magnolia Bowl, Ole Miss tied LSU, 6âÂÂ6. LSU held the lead in the series with 27 wins, 20 losses, and 2 ties. This season marked the last time LSU played in Oxford until 1989.