While Mississippi is known for having two members of the SEC, college football fans in the Magnolia State shouldn’t be overlooking the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Obviously, compared to those two SEC programs, it’s a little easier to find cheap Southern Miss football tickets. But that can be a little misleading for fans. The Eagles have a proud heritage that includes strong rivalries, several conference titles, and dozens of players who have gone on to play in the NFL, including a couple of Hall of Famers. More importantly, the future of the program is promising, with the Eagles now a member of the emerging Sun Belt conference, helping to increase the demand for last-minute Southern Miss football tickets.

Title Town

For much of its history, Southern Miss football has played as an independent, often at the lower levels of college football. But that doesn’t mean the Eagles don’t have a championship pedigree. Under longtime head coach Thad Vann, Southern Miss won national championships at the College Division level in both 1958 and 1962. In fact, the 1958 team finished the season undefeated, helping Vann, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, go 139-59-2 during his tenure at Southern Miss.

High-Flying Eagles

In 1996, Southern Miss said goodbye to life as an independent program for good, joining Conference USA. The Eagles were an immediate hit in their new league, winning the Conference USA title three times in their first four seasons under Jeff Bower while adding a fourth conference crown in just their first seven years in the league. That success set in motion a new era of Southern Miss football in which the Eagles have been a perennial bowl team despite several coaching changes. In 2022, Southern Miss joined the Sun Belt Conference, giving the Eagles a new challenge and positioning them to become a top-flight mid-major program in the years to come.