has ole miss ever won a national championship
Yes. Ole Miss football claims national championships, with one title widely recognized and a couple of additional years often mentioned in school lore.
Short answer
- Ole Miss is generally credited with one officially recognized national championship in football, from the 1960 season.
- The program (and many fans) also claims three national titles: 1959, 1960, and 1962, though only 1960 is broadly acknowledged by major record-keepers like the NCAA.
What “counts” as their title?
Different selectors named champions in the late 1950s and early 1960s, so multiple teams could claim a title in the same year. For Ole Miss:
- 1960
- Record: 10–0–1 and SEC champions under coach Johnny Vaught.
* Won the Sugar Bowl vs. Rice 14–6, then were named national champions by the Football Writers Association of America, earning the Grantland Rice Trophy.
* This 1960 crown is the only one officially recognized by the NCAA and is the clearest “yes” to whether Ole Miss has ever won a national championship.
The “claimed” titles (1959, 1960, 1962)
The school’s historical materials note that Ole Miss claims three national championships: 1959, 1960, and 1962.
- 1959
- Ole Miss went 10–1, with the only loss to LSU, and some “major selectors” named them national champions.
* However, the AP and UPI polls recognized Syracuse as national champion that year, so 1959 is considered a “claimed” rather than consensus or NCAA-recognized title.
- 1962
- Ole Miss finished 10–0, an undefeated season with an SEC title, and some selectors named them national champions.
* Still, like 1959, this is more of a school-claim year, not a universally accepted national championship.
Why there’s confusion online
You’ll see different answers depending on how strict people are:
- Some sites and fans say “one national championship” (the 1960 season) to match NCAA recognition and the most widely accepted record.
- Others say Ole Miss “claims three national championships” (1959, 1960, 1962) because multiple selectors named them champions in those years.
So, if someone asks “has Ole Miss ever won a national championship,” the fair football answer is:
Yes, Ole Miss has one widely recognized national championship from the 1960 season, and the program also claims titles in 1959 and 1962 based on historical selectors.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.