When the Ole Miss administration voted to chuck Colonel Reb as the school's official mascot in 2003, chances are they didn't have Admiral Ackbar in mind as a replacement.

However, it appears that long after concluding his illustrious military career in Star Wars' Rebel Alliance, Ackbar is indeed in the running to be the school's new sporting symbol.

A group of four students, dubbed the Ole Miss Rebel Alliance, have started a grassroots campaign to re-enlist the legendary Mon Calamari admiral through Notatrap.org — obviously named in tribute to Ackbar's most famous utterance:

(Thankfully, it also gives me reason to highlight the funniest Robot Chicken bit ever.)

With more than 15,000 fans on Facebook, Ackbar is certainly the people's choice at this point. And Tuesday's student vote to officially replace Colonel Reb with someone new has made Ackbar the early favorite.

And why shouldn't he be? From his command deck on Home One, Ackbar deftly orchestrated one of the greatest military upsets in the history of the Far Away Galaxy. (Mind you, people often forget this salient point since it was, you know, a long, long time ago.)

As we wait to see how this plays out, we can only hope that the students of Rebel Nation — of whom 94 percent in 2003 said they preferred to keep Colonel Reb — can put their full backing into this no-brainer of a selection.

Because, as the folks at Notatrap.org argue, "Who wants a colonel when you can have an admiral?"

Photo: Notatrap.org