Ole Miss self-imposes bowl ban for 2017 season

Ole Miss missed out on a bowl game last football season and will miss out later this year after the university announced a self-imposed postseason ban Wednesday afternoon.

The Southeastern Conference school received a notice of allegations from the NCAA on Wednesday morning that contained eight additional allegations from the 13 that were in the notice Ole Miss received in January 2016. The new allegations included the lack of institutional control and claimed that Hugh Freeze “violated head-coaching responsibility legislation.”

“This is a serious case,” Ole Miss chancellor Jeff Vitter said during a 20-minute video that was released by the school, “and we are disappointed by the violations that surfaced during our joint investigation with the NCAA.”

Ole Miss, which capped a 10-3 season in 2015 with a Sugar Bowl victory over Oklahoma State before plummeting to 5-7 last year due to a multitude of injuries, is the first SEC football program to be banned from a postseason since Mississippi State 2004. As part of its self-imposed ban, Ole Miss will also forfeit its portion of the league’s postseason revenue, which Rebels athletic director Ross Bjork estimated at $7.8 million.

Bjork said the self-imposed ban was made jointly with Vitter and that the decision was supported by Freeze.

“This was difficult news to share with our young men and staff,” Bjork said in the video. “They will pay the price for the actions of a few, but I am confident we will rebound from this adversity because of the strong foundation we have in place.”

Ole Miss has 90 days to respond to the new notice. The school plans to fight the charges against Freeze and the lack of institutional control. The hearing before the NCAA’s committee on infractions could take place this summer.

Bjork said the school’s response will provide “detailed supporting information that demonstrates the institution’s strong control of the athletics program.”

The latest notice alleges that an Ole Miss staff member, between April 2014 and February 2015, connected a football prospect to a pair of boosters, who paid the recruit between $13,000 and $15,600. That prospect wound up enrolling at another school.

Freeze spoke briefly near the end of the video, balancing remorse over the negative attention this has caused the school with absolute defiance.

“Contrary to the allegations, I have demonstrated throughout this entire process that I have a strong record of promoting compliance and monitoring my staff,” Freeze said. “I look forward to presenting that evidence to the committee on infractions.”

Vitter stressed his full confidence in Freeze from a compliance standpoint. Freeze is 39-25 through five seasons in Oxford with three bowl victories and two wins over Alabama.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.