2014 NCAA Baseball Tournament: Ole Miss Defeats Lousiana-Lafayette, 10-4, For First CWS Bid in 42 Years

If you're a sports fan, you probably know something like the catharsis that Ole Miss fans felt in the top of the ninth inning of Monday's third game in the Lafayette Super Regional. Whether it was your team's first title in a particular sport or the first time your school defeated its rival in many years or any long-lasting drought that was finally broken, Ole Miss fans were feeling that as the Rebels scored four runs, took a 10-4 lead and essentially ended Louisiana-Lafayette's hopes of winning the game.

It was probably even stronger than that feeling you can remember, though. Because Ole Miss has not been to Omaha for the College World Series in 42 years. And because of the win, for the first time since Richard Nixon was running for re-election, the Rebels are headed to the event. That ends the third-longest streak without a visit to Omaha in the SEC -- Kentucky has never been, and Missouri hasn't been since 1964 -- and puts Ole Miss six wins away from the school's first national title in baseball.

But all of that can wait for now. The Rebels and their fans will probably spend a few days savoring the feeling of getting the final ticket to Omaha, taking down the consensus No. 1 team in the nation and being one of the last two SEC teams standing. They have a few days; their journey in the College World Series begins in earnest Sunday evening, when Ole Miss takes on Virginia in a city they haven't been to in more than four decades.