Southern Miss -

[Big Daddy Dawg]

GET OFF THE BOTTOM! Replacing the current "Rise to the Top"!

[Ronny]

...has lost 23 consecutive games dating to last season.

It's the longest losing streak of any FBS-level program in the country.

I am not a fan of USM, but this bothers me.

USM used to be a regular contender for the C-USA title.

If anybody has the inside scoop on this rags to riches story, I'm willing to listen.

[Political Hack]

they had a coach that led them to mediocrity and the fans thought they were good enough to challenge the Alabama'snof the world so they fired Jeff Bower, hired a hot headed young coach, saw some limited success, and the. watched the coaching carousel begin that left them at the rock's bottom (pun intended).

[Fader21]

I don't care if their losing streak hits 100. It wouldn't bother me one bit. Their fan base makes me sicker than some ole miss fans

[FlabLoser]

Before the SEC got real good, USM used to be a handful for Bama and FSU. They've fallen along with CUSA. They will eventually be D-III like on a permanent basis after the big 4 break from the NCAA.

[Todd4State]

I think they are a victim of modern college football as much as anything. They aren't in a major conference, and it appears as if they have missed the boat on the modern conference shifts. Essentially, they are in the old Sun Belt Conference. State and Ole Miss when recruiting can always tell a kid in Mississippi- "hey come play in the SEC". They can't do that.

Also, back in the day they were an independent just like Notre Dame, Penn State, Florida State, Virginia Tech, etc. Back then that wasn't unusual for a big name school to be an independent.

Another thing is most of the current Sun Belt teams were I-AA or just moving up to I-A when USM was doing well. USM could get all of the Mississippi leftovers that MSU and Ole Miss overlooked, they could recruit Louisiana and get the guys that LSU overlooked, and then they could also recruit Alabama and the Florida panhandle without that much competition.

Now they've got to deal with MSU placing less of an emphasis on JUCO's and more of an emphasis on the diamonds in the rough that USM used to get, and now they are recruiting against ULL and Hud, Tulane, ULM, and La Tech in Louisiana, Troy, South Alabama, and UAB in Alabama, and South Florida and Central Florida in Florida. Some of those schools didn't even have teams in 1994.

The recruiting web site phenomenon has hurt them with diamonds in the rough as well. Fewer kids are getting overlooked nowadays. That's what they were making their living off of for so long.

[Todd4State]

Before the SEC got real good, USM used to be a handful for Bama and FSU. They've fallen along with CUSA. They will eventually be D-III like on a permanent basis after the big 4 break from the NCAA.

I don't know about D-III, but I-AA doesn't seem unlikely at this point. They would be a good fit for the Southland Conference.

[Ronny]

I don't know about D-III, but I-AA doesn't seem unlikely at this point. They would be a good fit for the Southland Conference.

...did you know a school called Incarnate Word is part of the Southland Conference?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SouthlandLocations.png

I have never once heard ESPN mention Incarnate Word, nor have I seen Incarnate Word on a ESPN chyron. Never in my life have I heard of Incarnate Word.

They have a football, basketball & baseball team none of which I've ever heard of...

here is their 2014 baseball schedule...

http://www.d1baseball.com/schools/incarnword.htm

http://www.uiwcardinals.com/