Breaking: The Egg Bowl is relevant again.

#WinTheDay vs #TrueMaroon

#HottyToddy vs #HailState

Thankfully, the rivalry is back to its rightful place. Over the years, we have seen both schools dominate the gridiron. In the late 2000's Ole Miss was the aggressor and had delusions of grandeur and bypassed naming its arch rival in Mississippi State, in lieu of LSU.

A big mistake. A mistake a majority of the fan base in red and blue will not make for a while; hence rushing the field after the recent win over MSU.

It was a big deal.

Dan Mullen made them pay. As it has been stated ad nauseum, Mullen promised to never lose to Ole Miss again. That didn't happen. With that said, for two years, he backed up that statement with authority, wiping the state of Mississippi clean in recruiting and crushing the Houston Nutt led Rebels on the field.

Mullen never lost to Nutt while at MSU and never will.

Ole Miss fans dismissed the "TSUN" and "Black Bear" references as stupidity and juvenile, while getting drummed on the field. MSU fans poured it on, like gas on a blazing fire.

It created a reaction. It worked to perfection.

Some MSU fans argue it worked too well. A faction of the fan base have a point. Ole Miss grew tired of the rhetoric. They grew tired of the "Our (insert your noun here)" talk. The only way to stop it was on the field. Ole Miss, for the last two years, failed to do that and only made the jokes and jabs more insightful and entertaining.

It was quite evident, Nutt didn't give a damn about the rivalry. In hindsight, I'm not quite sure he cared about anything other than money. With that said, Hugh Freeze, a Mississippi native, understood the rivalry and responded in kind.

Without mincing words, he led the Rebels to an Egg Bowl victory and went about his business. A very decisive victory, I might add.

Game. On.

Anyone with a pulse knows that Mississippi State will draw a line in the sand and be ready for the 2013 Egg Bowl in Starkville, as how it should be. The bad news for MSU and Dan Mullen is this could have been the worst team they will face under Freeze. The Independence native is blazing the recruiting trail, while taken a hapless program to an astonishing six wins and a trip to face Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass Bowl.

Make no mistake, with the recent wide receivers that have pledged to play for the Bulldogs, Mullen is not sitting on his laurels of playing in yet another New Year's Day bowl game in Jacksonville vs Northwestern in the Taxslayer Gator Bowl. With his helicopter in tow, his grand entrance has been made at multiple schools this year and will have another Top-25 recruiting class, per multiple recruiting services.

The Egg Bowl is a game that can go either way. It always has been. As for the upcoming years, we can only hope it will be as heated and competitive as it was just a few weeks ago.

As long as Dan Mullen and Hugh Freeze are the coaches, I can assure you it will be.

Brad Logan is a regular contributor to Mississippi Sports Magazine. He is a native of Bruce, MS and currently resides in Mississippi. You can reach him by following him on Twitter: @BradLoganCA