If Houston is to finish the regular season unbeaten and play its way into a BcS bowl berth, they’ll have to go through Southern Miss to do it.
Thanks to a 44-7 win over Memphis Saturday, the Golden Eagles secured their second-ever Conference USA East title and will face the Cougars in the conference championship game next Saturday. The game will be played at Houston’s Robertson Stadium and will kickoff at noon ET.
This could turn out to be déjà vu all over again for the Cougars; in 2006, Houston won the conference title on its home turf by beating Southern Miss.
“Houston will be an outstanding setting for this year’s championship,” said Commissioner Britton Banowsky. “The Cougars have been very exciting to watch all season long and have been very impressive in going through the regular season undefeated. We are looking forward to returning our championship to Houston for a terrific atmosphere and a matchup against a great Southern Miss team.”
Houston, ranked eighth in both the latest Associated Press poll and BcS rankings, will be looking to go 13-0 for the first time in school history. A win would also assure the Cougars a berth in a BcS bowl, which would mark the first time a school from Conference USA had achieved such a bid.
Southern Miss leads the all-time series, 9-3, winning the last meeting, 59-41 on Nov. 20, 2010 in Hattiesburg.