The Golden Eagles look for win #2 over the Blue Raiders. Join us for a little fun.

Marshall and James Madison to Sunbelt.

I went to check the football history section of southernmiss.com today to see how many times we’ve played Louisiana-Lafayette (or U-La-La as we used to say) in football, and it says we’ve only played them four times in football since 1923. I know that’s not right, we played them more times than that just while I was in college. The Louisiana website said we’ve played them 21 times and Winsipedia says we’ve played them 51 times (Memphis and Louisiana Tech appear to be the only schools we’ve played more than Louisiana, according to that website). Does anyone know (A) who is maintains the football history section of southernmiss.com and (B) what the accurate count is of how many times we’ve played ULL?

Hopefully, Southern Miss is tracking this as all of the players are eligible to transfer and play right away. Florida Tech was division II but there is some talent there and it would be a great chance to fill any depth voids that Southern Miss might have.


https://spacecoastdaily.com/2020/05...s-react-to-football-program-being-eliminated/


https://floridatechsports.com/sports/football/roster

Is there a way to record the game on ESPN+? Will the game be replayed? I may miss the 2nd half.

Who would have thought that Judy outsmarted all of us? Yep, she realized that she couldn't raise enough TV revenue, nor propel the conference forward, but she has proven she is a genius. Now we all realize her strategy, implode the conference in a way that brings in maximum exit revenue from the departing teams and bring in new suckers that just are begging to be part of something. By the time the exit and entry revenues are counted, Judy will have brought in more revenue to CUSA than any previous commissioner. And we all played into her diabolical strategy. Wow, what genius thinking that must have taken to have fooled so many. She played the part of an idiot so well that we all fell for it.

There are 3 -OL commitments of the 16 total listed on Rivals. Heath mentioned there were 17 commitments, so I don't know if the 17th is an O-lineman or not. He said there would be about 15 open slots, with 12 or 13 going to OL/Dl positions. This seems just. I believe there will be more than 15 openings by the time it is over, or I hope so. I fear some of the better players now committed will leave for other teams since we are presently in the abyss. Also, there will be guys on the present roster that will leave. I am hoping none of the OL will be invited back next year. That would leave openings that can be used to go to the portal for more OL players. Let's face it, WH can't go wrong with any picks he chose from the portal because all will be better than what we have now. I also question the future status of the OL coordinator.

High: 57
Low: 48
Chance of Rain: 87%

In short, perfect!

After all of the hullabaloo of conference realignment in the last week, now made official with Southern Miss announcing a move to the Sun Belt in 2023, there's still football to be played.

Southern Miss looks to shake off a 34-0 beatdown at the hands of the UAB Blazers two weeks ago, making the trip to Murfreesboro, TN to take on a 3-4 Middle Tennessee State.

The Golden Eagles enter the matchup with a record of 1-6 and remaining winless in conference play. It's difficult to find silver lining in such a year, but there is still potential to build needed momentum moving into the offseason.

Saturday's meeting with the Blue Raiders begins a final stretch where there are still four winnable games on the schedule. Emphasis on winnable. Will Hall's group will have to find some semblance of consistency on offense, or any sort of production, to be expected to be competitive in any of these remaining games.

MTSU will present another formidable challenge for the downtrodden roster that has lost a multitude of key pieces due to injury, as well as a number of players entering the transfer portal over the last month.

Rick Stockstill's group doesn't look to be a serious contender in the CUSA East, but after a 44-13 drubbing of a bad UCONN team, they should push for bowl eligibility. In 2021, the success has largely been due to an offense that lands somewhere slightly above average - scoring just under 30 points per game while the defense surrenders an average score of 28.7.

Quarterback Chase Cunningham leads the way with 1,270 total yards, 16 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions on a 62.7% completion percentage. He's not flashy, nor will he light the stat sheet on fire, but the redshirt junior has been effective in managing the offense.

The rushing offense has been less successful in 2021 for Middle Tennessee, averaging below the 100-yard mark per game with only 5 touchdowns on the ground. This should be a favorable matchup for the Southern Miss defense.

Speaking of such, the keys to a Southern Miss win remain what they have been since the start of year. High-quality defense, minimize bad mistakes on offense, and win the turnover margin to give yourself a shot in the final quarter of play.

The good news here is that Austin Armstrong's defense has remained largely healthy and return a few banged up guys coming off of the buy week. It's imperative for the defense to bounce back after a step in the wrong direction against UAB. The defense is healthy and have shown that they are capable of keeping Southern Miss in the game until late - even with a hapless offense.

Middle Tennessee State is a 13.5-point favorite over Southern Miss. Kickoff is slated for Saturday at 2:30 PM and will be televised on ESPN+.

What are your keys to the game against MTSU? Do you see this as a winnable game? Why or why not?

scouting-report/6139485001/

The newspaper has another article today that the MAC conference might consider expansion and might be looking at MTSU.

From CUSA will be 3 million dollars.

Looks like going forward, the emphasis will be OL/DL looking at the portal and JUCO to fill immediate needs. Hall has stated that they will be having 8-10 more players transferring at the end of the season. With 17 schollys already filled and the NCAA giving schools up to 7 additional schollys for transferring players, it looks as if USM will use 12 or 13 of the remaining 15 schollys on the OL/DL while saving a few for "diamonds in the rough". They offered L Webb (RB Jones), and a player of that quality is hard to say no to.

I am not sure I have seen comments on how joining the SBC will impact our basketball programs. When and where will these games be broadcast and who much money will we receive?

A message from former Editor Lanny Mixon..

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Something amazing is happening in the world of college football in this round of realignment. First time in more than two decades it appears that when the cards in the deck of college football fall that Southern Miss won’t be left wondering what happened.

This year under the leadership of University President - Dr. Rodney Bennett and Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain, the Golden Eagles forged their own path.

The cards began to fall when Texas and Oklahoma bolted for the more lucrative pastures of the Southeastern Conference, the Big 12 moved quickly and filled the void with former Conference USA and current American Athletic Conference members Cincinnati, Houston and UCF along with longtime Independent BYU.

All four programs have experienced success on the gridiron and hardwood over the past decade.

The AAC wasted precious little time in extending memberships to current C-USA programs – Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA. This was no surprise to those of us who have followed Conference USA and the teams historically associated with it. The AAC added media markets, not universities. They added Charlotte, Miami, Dallas, Houston, Birmingham and San Antonio.

Success or lack there of had nothing to do with this process, the AAC and C-USA have always been and will always be focused on media markets first and everything else later.

Thankfully for Southern Miss, we had administration in place that had no desire to wait and see. The Eagles were blessed with leadership who had no desire to sit around and try to rebuild C-USA 4.0.

Not Your Father’s Sunbelt

For many years the Sunbelt was not a desirable destination for most schools. Current C-USA members FAU, FIU, MTSU and WKU willingly left the league just a decade ago for what were at the time greener pastures in C-USA.

My how times have changed, and it all came down to leadership.

For the past decade C-USA has languished under complacent and incompetent leadership.

In 2002, Mike Slive gave the keys of C-USA to Britton Banowsky. I think we all knew this was a downgrade, but few realized at the time just how big of a downgrade it really was. The downgrade was even more dramatic when Banowsky gave way to Judy McLeod in 2015.

Conference USA had become a random group of colleges thrown together with little rhyme or reason. Worse yet, they had no focus and no vision.

Meanwhile the Sunbelt Conference had a consistent vision and competent leadership. Wright Waters and Karl Benson (former WAC Commissioner) gave steady leadership as the Sunbelt matured. Regional rivalries flourished, close geography allowed costs to remain manageable and each member institute bought into this common vision.

This vision is far more in line with what Southern Miss needs than anything that Conference USA has offered in more than a decade.

Sunbelt Commissioner Keith Gill, a seasoned former AD and longtime conference administrator, will be a breath of fresh air for Southern Miss fans.

Now it’s Our Turn

Southern Miss fans, this part of the story if for us. Its time for you and I to step up.

Dr. Bennett and Mr. McClain have done what they have been working to do for some time. Southern Miss is no longer hampered by Conference USA.

Its time for fans to step up and step up now, not in 2023 when the Eagles are expected to start SBC play.

If you’ve not, buy season basketball tickets, buy baseball tickets, move up a level in the Eagle Club. At least send them an extra donation, another $100 from every EC member would be a big deal. Pack the Rock the rest of the season!

Bennett and McClain have done their part. Scott Berry has been doing his part for years. Jay Ladner is looking for a break-out season in year three. Will Hall has a big job in front of him, but I think he’s up to the task.

Now its time for Southern Miss fans to do their part. This is our chance for a fresh start and an opportunity to get back to the Southern Miss we all know and love.


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Exit fee from CUSA is 3 mill
USM will be members of the Sun Belt July 1, 2023
Dr. B said the economic impact of this move should be 40 mill dollars for the state.
This process went fast, no real timeline was given. Gill said looking at expansion for the SBC began when the OU/Texas to SEC move began.
USM fits the SBC footprint and USM was a school that they wanted.
Jeremy spoke on travel not just being better for fans, but will help student athletes and not keep them away for USM for extended time.
There were no improvement conditions that were made to USM by the SBC
This will decrease the travel budget for all teams.
Beach Volleyball has no home in Sunbelt because that is a sport they do not have but USM will be working on that. Title 9 sport, it has to stay.
Gill believes that because of the stability of the SBC, it has allowed the conference to grow.

Just a few quick hits from the presser.

On this week's episode of To The Top Talk:
-Southern Miss to the Sun Belt now official!
-Golden Eagle Football coming off a bye
-PIcks of the week
-Hippos or Anteaters? #SMTTT #AIE

Website with links to iTunes, Spotify & more: http://www.jamiearrington.net/tothetoptalk

So Football will start play in August of 2023? Basketball November of 2023 and Baseball February of 2024? Is this correct?