Trump is officially back. That’s cool; he’s indisputably better than the alternative.

In other news…

Ohio State and Notre Dame, two of the game’s traditional powers, played to determine college football’s national champion just a few hours ago. I had no dog in the hunt, so I was able to enjoy the game objectively. Congrats to the Buckeyes.

So as another magnificent season comes to an end, I was recently reminded by the YouTube algorithm of College GameDay’s stop in Oxford, Mississippi for the Alabama-Ole Miss game way back on October 4, 2014.

The entire ESPN crew – Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Tom Rinaldi and Chris “The Bear” Fallica – adorned preppie bowties to match with the thousands of Rebel students, fans and alumni who, as tradition holds, were decked out in their Sunday best for the pregame festivities, which for generations has been set upon 10 lovely acres in the middle of campus known as The Grove.

Fowler (a Colorado alum) was also clad for a time in an unkempt blonde wig to replicate the “mop top flop” that’s common among underclassmen. He wore it remarkably well.

The sea of red and blue tents beneath the century-old oak trees housed the revelry and merriment that made Ole Miss the king of the tailgating mountain.

Naturally the food and drink were plentiful. Lafayette County was dry back then, but you wouldn’t know it by the abundance of coolers and wine bottles that were affectionately referenced in a brief soliloquy about “Grove Cups” by Wright Thompson.

I suppose that’s to be expected by the kind of fans who hang chandeliers and satellite dishes – yes you read that correctly – within their party encampments.

And all of this, in short, is what college football is all about. I really needed to revisit that moment in time.

Colonel Reb was still persona non grata, replaced by that stupid black bear, which itself was retired in 2016. Fortunately, Katy Perry’s special appearance temporarily wiped away the stain of political correctness and sanctimonious activism that facilitated the removal of the emblematic Southern gentleman from campus.

Ole Miss defeated #3 Alabama on this day, 23-17. The win was forcibly vacated by the NCAA a little over a year later due to a plethora of improprieties by then-head coach Hugh Freeze, but nobody really cares.

Ole Miss may not win every game, but they’ve never lost a party. I doubt bluebloods like Ohio State and Notre Dame know much about that.

Hotty Toddy.

(Ole Miss girls go hard.)