Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 60. Southern Miss
Do you, Southern Miss fan, take Brett Favre to be your lawfully wedded university representative?
Southern Miss is a model of consistency. The Golden Eagles enjoyed 18 straight winning seasons from 1994-2012, also making 14 bowls in 15 years from 1997-2011. Those years didn’t even coincide with the years of QB Brett Favre, who led the team to 10 wins in 1988. All this considered, Southern Miss is the top team in the Sun Belt on this list.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+----------------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+----------------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 16 | Southern Mississippi | 2011 | 28.318 | 12-2 |
| 18 | Southern Mississippi | 1988 | 17.759 | 10-2 |
| 21 | Southern Mississippi | 1997 | 15.171 | 9-3 |
| 20 | Southern Mississippi | 1999 | 13.023 | 9-3 |
| 34 | Southern Mississippi | 2003 | 9.858 | 9-4 |
| 27 | Southern Mississippi | 1990 | 9.742 | 8-4 |
| 34 | Southern Mississippi | 2000 | 9.104 | 8-4 |
| 29 | Southern Mississippi | 1996 | 8.356 | 8-3 |
| 44 | Southern Mississippi | 2006 | 1.088 | 9-5 |
| 52 | Southern Mississippi | 2015 | 1.013 | 9-5 |
| 44 | Southern Mississippi | 1983 | -0.811 | 7-4 |
| 42 | Southern Mississippi | 1992 | -1.709 | 7-4 |
| 52 | Southern Mississippi | 2010 | -2.046 | 8-5 |
| 44 | Southern Mississippi | 1998 | -2.655 | 7-5 |
| 49 | Southern Mississippi | 2005 | -4.15 | 7-5 |
| 63 | Southern Mississippi | 2018 | -6.715 | 6-5 |
| 47 | Southern Mississippi | 1985 | -6.987 | 7-4 |
| 58 | Southern Mississippi | 2008 | -7.136 | 7-6 |
| 56 | Southern Mississippi | 1995 | -7.576 | 6-5 |
| 53 | Southern Mississippi | 1994 | -8.035 | 6-5 |
| 62 | Southern Mississippi | 2017 | -8.404 | 8-5 |
| 54 | Southern Mississippi | 1989 | -8.987 | 5-6 |
| 67 | Southern Mississippi | 2001 | -10.386 | 6-5 |
| 59 | Southern Mississippi | 2004 | -10.587 | 7-5 |
| 68 | Southern Mississippi | 2009 | -11.012 | 7-6 |
| 66 | Southern Mississippi | 2007 | -11.852 | 7-6 |
| 66 | Southern Mississippi | 2002 | -11.977 | 7-6 |
| 77 | Southern Mississippi | 2022 | -12.439 | 7-6 |
| 61 | Southern Mississippi | 1986 | -12.7 | 6-5 |
| 70 | Southern Mississippi | 2016 | -13.14 | 7-6 |
| 59 | Southern Mississippi | 1987 | -13.643 | 6-5 |
| 77 | Southern Mississippi | 2019 | -15.007 | 7-6 |
| 77 | Southern Mississippi | 1991 | -27.649 | 4-7 |
| 86 | Southern Mississippi | 1984 | -32.405 | 4-7 |
| 114 | Southern Mississippi | 2020 | -36.129 | 3-7 |
| 93 | Southern Mississippi | 1993 | -38.443 | 2-8-1 |
| 116 | Southern Mississippi | 2014 | -44.132 | 3-9 |
| 117 | Southern Mississippi | 2021 | -47.364 | 3-9 |
| 123 | Southern Mississippi | 2013 | -68.348 | 1-11 |
| 124 | Southern Mississippi | 2012 | -70.83 | 0-12 |
+------+----------------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 16144 (60th)259-220-1 record
5 conference titles
11-10 bowl record
0 consensus All-Americans
51 NFL players drafted
31 winning seasons in 40 years is remarkable consistency for a Group of 5 program. The only thing that prevents them from being higher is just two 10-win seasons. 21 bowl appearances is the most on this list so far, and with their recent bowl win in 2022, are above the .500 mark. The most notable alumni have been QB Brett Favre, LB Jamie Collins, DB Patrick Surtain, WR Todd Pinkston, and 1st rounders WR Louis Lipps and RB Troy Smith. If we go back to the early 70’s, the GOAT punter Ray Guy was a Southern Miss alum, and current RB Frank Gore Jr. is even better than his dad in college, rushing for a bowl record 328 yards in the LendingTree Bowl last season.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2012 (0-12 overall, 0-8 Conference USA)
Incredibly, Southern Miss’s worst season came the year after their best season. After coach Larry Fedora, 4 year starting QB Austin Davis, and a whole bunch of starters left the program, Ellis Johnson took over, but it wasn’t like the program was expected to tank. In fact, they were one of the favorites to win the conference. After all, they were enjoying a streak of 18 straight winning seasons at the time, dating back to 1994. They did tank though, in unimaginable ways. They went 0-12, completing the worst season-to-season turnaround in college football history (12 wins to 0), and had a 23 game losing streak until the final game of 2013. The 2013 team was actually going to be worse than 2012 until they won their last game. The 2012 team, while 0-12 and very bad, at least had one possession losses to #17 Louisville, UCF, UAB, and UTEP. Even with no wins, the 2012 team scored more points and gave up less points than the 2013 edition. Just a nightmare all around. Ellis Johnson was fired after one year (2012), and Todd Monken took over for 3 years from 2013-15, bringing the program back to a stable state before leaving. He eventually wound up as Georgia’s offensive coordinator from 2020-22, and was considered one of the best during that time.
LB Jamie Collins had to do everything himself, earning 1st Team All-CUSA with 92 tackles, 10 sacks, 10 TFL, 5 PBU, and 4 forced fumbles. Nobody else made 1st/2nd team. 5 different QBs threw for 100+ yards but none threw for more than 700. No player on the team had more than 520 rushing yards, and the leading receiver had 330.
2012 Southern Miss is my 22nd worst team since 1983.
5. 2003 (9-4 overall, 8-0 Conference USA)
It was a tale of two seasons for Southern Miss; the non-conference and conference games. The 4 losses were to Aaron Rodgers and Cal, #15 Nebraska, Alabama, and Alex Smith and #25 Utah in the bowl. Yet in Conference USA, Southern Miss was perfect, going 8-0 with wins over 9-4 Memphis, 7-4 USF, 7-6 Houston, and #10 TCU in a game that decided the conference title. The TCU game aired on ESPN, and a raucous crowd of 30,000 helped will Southern Miss to their 4th conference title in 8 years. The defense held their opponents to 14 points or less in half of their games, and 5 defensive starters made 1st Team All-CUSA, including the LB tandem of Michael Boley and Rod Davis, who each posted 130+ tackles and were drafted into the NFL. Davis won the 2002 C-USA Defensive POTY while Boley would win the 2004 award.
4. 1999 (9-3 overall, 6-0 Conference USA)
A mini-dynasty was brewing in Hattiesburg, having won 2 of the last 3 Conference USA titles. And the media was starting to take notice. After a 2-0 start, Southern Miss played close games against top 5 teams, losing 13-20 to #4 Nebraska and 6-23 to #5 Texas A&M. Up 25-22 on #16 East Carolina with 3 minutes left, ECU was in Southern Miss territory looking for the win, until David Garrard threw a pick six for the eventual 38-22 Eagle win. Despite being just a 3-2 Group of 5 team, Southern Miss earned a Top 25 ranking, and after winning 3 more set up a match between #14 Alabama and #20 Southern Miss. The Eagles did their best, but Alabama ended up taking it 35-14. Still ranked #25 despite being just 5-3, the Southern Miss respect was real. They won the rest of their games, beating 7-3 Louisville for the Conference USA title and Colorado State in the Liberty Bowl. They finished #14 in the nation, which was pretty indicative of their talent level, as they had 10 players drafted over the next 3 years. QB Jeff Kelly, a future 7th rounder, led the C-USA in passing efficiency with 2062 yards 21 TD 11 INT. Future 2nd round WR Todd Pinkston was 2nd Team All-CUSA with nearly 1000 receiving yards and 11 TD. DE Adalius Thomas won the C-USA Defensive POTY for the 2nd straight year and was a 3rd Team All-American. Jeff Bower won C-USA Coach of the Year.
3. 1997 (9-3 overall, 6-0 Conference USA)
This was the best Jeff Bower team, according to my algorithm. Led by the “Nasty Bunch” on defense with Patrick Surtain, Adalius Thomas, Lytrell Pollard, and more, Southern Miss was top 25 in scoring defense, rushing defense, pass efficiency defense, and turnovers caused, en route to their 2nd straight C-USA title. They started just 2-2, but had a 24-7 win over Illinois, 35-19 win over Nevada, who would win their 4th straight Big West title by the end of the year, and held #2 Florida to 21 points and #21 Alabama to 27 in losses. After dispatching Louisville and East Carolina, the defense intercepted Tulane and future NFL QB Shaun King 3 times in a 34-13 win. Down 7-17 to Cincinnati the following week, Southern Miss scored 17 straight to win 24-17 with a dramatic interception on the goal line from Surtain to win the game. Later in the year, Southern Miss got revenge on Houston 33-0 after losing to them last year and losing the outright C-USA title. With a 42-18 dismantling of Memphis, Southern Miss claimed the title with a perfect 6-0 record. They saved the best for last, blowing out Pitt 41-7 in the bowl to finish #19. Surtain won C-USA Defensive POTY with 6 interceptions, and this was the first team in school history to have a 2000 yard passer (Lee Roberts), 1000 yard rusher (Harold Shaw), and 1000 yard receiver (Sherrod Gideon).
2. 1988 (10-2 overall, Independent)
Brett Favre quarterbacked a team that won 10 games for the first time in school history. In week 2 against Florida State, Deion Sanders picked off Favre and returned the interception for a touchdown in a 49-13 FSU win. The Golden Eagles would take out their frustration on Virginia Tech 35-13, whose coach Frank Beamer was in his 2nd of 29 seasons. A few weeks later Southern Miss would beat their second Power 5 team in Mississippi State, 38-21. A 9-2 regular season saw wins over Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, 8-3 Louisville, 6-5 Southwestern Louisiana, and 6-5 Memphis State, with the only losses to top 10 FSU and Auburn teams. The year ended on a major high, beating 10-2 UTEP 38-18 in the Independence Bowl. Favre, just a sophomore, threw for 2271 yards 16 TD 5 INT on the season, and would go on to become the school’s all-time leading passer with 7695 yards. Coach Curley Hallman would move on to the LSU job in 1991, but went just 16-28 with the Tigers. The defensive coordinator for this team was none other than Ellis Johnson, who would go on to coach Southern Miss’s worst ever team in 2012.
1. 2011 (12-2 overall, 6-2 Conference USA)
Southern Miss was entering with 17 straight winning seasons, so fans expected more of the same. They certainly didn’t expect 12 wins, though. Southern Miss got off to a surprisingly hot start, going 9-1 with wins over 8-5 Virginia, 8-5 Louisiana Tech, 63-35 over Navy, 27-3 over 8-5 SMU, and UCF. Up to #22, Southern Miss was bounced from the BCS rankings after a loss to UAB, beating Memphis in the final week to clinch a C-USA title game appearance at 10-2. But over in the other division was a team of destiny, the 2011 Houston Cougars. Led by record setting QB Case Keenum, Houston was 12-0 with a #7 ranking, needing just one more win to break into a BCS bowl. Despite being 13 point underdogs, Southern Miss picked off Keenum twice and scored a defensive TD and punt return TD to pull off a 49-28 upset, winning their first C-USA championship since 2003. In the bowl against Nevada, Southern Miss won their 12th game, a school record, finishing the year 12-2 and #20.
QB Austin Davis threw for 3500 yards with 30 TD 11 INT, earning 2nd Team All-CUSA and winning the Burlsworth Trophy given to the most outstanding player who began their career as a walk-on. Davis finished his career as the school’s all-time leading passer with over 10,000 yards with 83 TD to just 27 INT. RB/WR Tracy Lampley did it all, rushing for 450 yards, adding 570 receiving yards, and earning 1st Team All-CUSA as a punt returner. LB Jamie Collins made the 2nd Team with 98 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 13 TFL, and 8 PBU, and DE Cordarro Law was 1st Team with 9.5 sacks and 12.5 TFL. Kicker Danny Hrapman led C-USA in scoring for the 2nd straight year, hitting 23 FGs and 61 XPs. Coach Larry Fedora left for North Carolina after the season.
2011 Southern Miss is my 46th best Group of 5 team since 1983.
5th Quarter
Were you surprised at Southern Miss’s consistent run of winning seasons? Was Brett Favre vs Deion Sanders in 1988 the most talented matchup of future NFL Hall of Famers in college football history? Why did Southern Miss football fall off so sharply in 2012, and are current fans happy with the 6 winning seasons in the last 8 years? Is Brett Favre still beloved in the Southern Miss fanbase, or have people soured on him after recent events? How is Jeff Bower revered among the fanbase, is he a legend or just a good coach? And why was there such a steep dropoff of 12 → 0 wins from 2011 → 2012?
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