The Rebels earned a trip to the 2016 Sugar Bowl, their first appearance in this bowl game since 1970, where they beat Oklahoma State 48–20. In 2016, the Rebels struggled to a 5–7 record. After beginning the season at No.11, the Rebels blew a 22-point lead en route to a loss the opening weekend to Florida State. After defeating Wofford the following week, the Rebels blew another three-touchdown lead in a loss to Alabama. After obliterating Georgia  and Memphis, the Rebels lost three straight to Arkansas, LSU and Auburn. After defeating Georgia Southern and upsetting then-No. 10 Texas A&M, the Rebels dropped their last two regular season games to Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. On February 22, 2017, Ole Miss announced it would self-impose a bowl ban for the upcoming season after the NCAA accused the program of numerous violations of organization rules, including a lack of institutional control. Freeze was charged with failure to monitor and not promoting an atmosphere of compliance. On July 20, 2017, Freeze resigned after Ole Miss officials learned that he had used a university-provided cell phone to place calls to an escort service in "a concerning pattern" that began shortly after he took the job in 2011. Co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Matt Luke was named interim head coach after Freeze's resignation. Luke had extensive ties to Ole Miss. After a four-year playing career at center from 1995–1998 and graduating from Ole Miss in 2000 with a Bachelor of Business Administration, he took a job with Murray State University as an offensive line coach. Following the 2001 season, he returned to Ole Miss to coach offensive line and tight ends under head coach David Cutcliffe. Ole Miss fired Cutcliffe after the 2004 season, but new head coach Ed Orgeron retained Luke as part of his staff. Luke departed Ole Miss in 2006 to be reunited with Cutcliffe at the University of Tennessee, where the latter was the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator. After Cutcliffe took the Duke head coaching job in December 2007, Luke was hired as the team's offensive coordinator/offensive line coach, serving in that capacity until returning to his alma mater to join Hugh Freeze's staff in 2012. The Rebels finished 6–6 in 2017. The started the season with a 47–27 rout of South Alabama. After a 45–23 victory over FCS opponent Tennessee-Martin, Ole Miss suffered its first loss of the season in a 27–16 defeat at the hands of California, the first time the Rebels faced a Pac-12 Conference team in football in program history.