Great article on Southern Miss

[Harry]

I think this is a good, hard hitting article that gets to the gist of the situation at Southern Miss and many other schools in the gang of 5:

Let me preface this article to say that, Make It Rain Sports is a sports outlet that lives on the edge. We are often confrontational and not afraid to hit emotional topics within the world of sports. This is in no way intended to belittle or insult the University of Southern Mississippi sports program as we love the fine alumni and supporters of the Golden Eagles. Having said that, we look at the facts and give our opinion as we continue to, Make it Rain.

Sixteen straight winning seasons, eight consecutive bowl appearances, and four league championships in the 12-year history of Conference USA. In 2007, they were selected as the conference team and coach of the decade. This is Southern Miss Football.

Remarkable accomplishments, regardless of conference affiliation. But conference affiliation is something USM must evaluate, as conferences rapidly jockey for new teams and position themselves for the inevitable super conferences. Many teams will surely be left out to dry.

This doesn’t mean teams in small conferences will have to stop playing competitive college sports, but it does mean opportunities for success will be increasingly limited for those not affiliated with the upper tier conferences.

And yes, USM is one of those teams.

For years USM played football as an independent and played other sports in the old Metro Conference. In those days (1982-95) USM played and beat teams like, Florida State, Alabama, Auburn, and others. But even then, teams started making big conference moves. Florida State to the ACC in 1991, South Carolina to the SEC in 1992 are just a few that began in the early nineties making the conference jump.

read more: http://www.makeitrainsports.com/football/southern-miss-facing-the-harsh-reality-of-conference-realignment-2/