Ole Miss knew it was headed back to a New Year's Six game, and the Rebels will be in a familiar location.

The Rebels, who finished No. 8 in the College Football Playoff rankings, will face No. 5 and Big XII champion Baylor in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in New Orleans.

“Both teams have excelled behind the leadership of second-year coaches, who have lifted their programs to great heights,” Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley said, referring to Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin and Baylor’s Dave Aranda. “We’ve had each of these teams in recent years and know first-hand about the passion of their outstanding fan bases.”

Ole Miss gets the Sugar Bowl bid as the highest ranked SEC team not in the playoffs. The Rebels went 10-2 in the regular season, winning double-digit games prior to the bowl for the first time in school history. The Rebels' losses were road games at Alabama and Auburn.

Ole Miss went undefeated at home for the first time since 1992.

Baylor (11-2) beat Oklahoma State, 21-16, in the Big XII championship game on Saturday. The Bears lost at TCU and at Oklahoma State in the regular season.

The Rebels and Bears were supposed to face each other in the 2020 season opener before COVID-19 altered the schedules to conference only.

Ole Miss is 25-13 in bowls all-time, and this will be the Rebels' 10th appearance in the Sugar Bowl. Ole Miss has the fourth most appearances in the game behind Alabama, LSU and Georgia. The Rebels are 6-3 in the Sugar Bowl, tied for the second most wins with Oklahoma and LSU and behind Alabama's nine victories.

The Rebels are 1-1 in New Year's Six games since the College Football Playoff rankings first began in 2014. Ole Miss lost to TCU in the 2014 Peach Bowl and beat Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl to close the 2015 season.

The two teams have met only once, a 20-10 Baylor win in Waco in 1975.

The Rebels announced on Saturday Kiffin signed a contraction extension, and sources indicate an average salary of approximately $7.5 million.