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1996 Southern Miss

8–⁠3 (4–⁠1 Conference USA), coached by Jeff Bower.

Schedule and results

Southern Miss in 1996, game by game: won at Georgia 11–7; lost at No. 14 Alabama 10–20; won vs. Utah State 31–24; won vs. Louisiana 52–27; won at Louisville 24–7; won at East Carolina 28–7; won vs. Memphis 16–0; won at Tulane 31–28; won vs. Cincinnati 21–17; lost at Houston 49–56; lost at No. 3 Florida State 14–54+25−40Won 11–7 at Georgia+4GeorgiaLost 10–20 at No. 14 Alabama-10No. 14 AlabamaWon 31–24 vs. Utah State+7Utah StateWon 52–27 vs. Louisiana+25LouisianaWon 24–7 at Louisville+17LouisvilleWon 28–7 at East Carolina+21East CarolinaWon 16–0 vs. Memphis+16MemphisWon 31–28 at Tulane+3TulaneWon 21–17 vs. Cincinnati+4CincinnatiLost 49–56 at Houston-7HoustonLost 14–54 at No. 3 Florida State-40No. 3 Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31atGeorgiaW 11–⁠743%
Sep 7at14AlabamaL 10–⁠2030%
Sep 14vsUtah StateW 31–⁠2466%
Sep 21vsLouisianaW 52–⁠2763%
Sep 28atLouisvilleW 24–⁠742%
Oct 10atEast CarolinaW 28–⁠742%
Oct 19vsMemphisW 16–⁠085%
Oct 26atTulaneW 31–⁠2878%
Nov 2vsCincinnatiW 21–⁠1778%
Nov 9atHoustonL 49–⁠5674%
Nov 16at3Florida StateL 14–⁠5421%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida State 54–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; Conference USA champions.

In program history: The 9th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 90 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 10: 24
  2. Wk 11: 23
  3. Wk 12: 20
  4. Wk 13: 25

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1996.

Conference USA champions4–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Houston

Record
8–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠1 shared first in Conference USA
AP final
Unranked peak No. 20
Points
287–⁠247
Coach
Jeff Bower
Elo
1609 +85 this season
SP+ rating
12.4 No. 28 of 111; offense No. 42, defense No. 33
SRS
7.0 No. 38 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Norman Joseph
Defensive coordinator
John Thompson
Offense
Multiple
Defense
Multiple

1996 Conference USA standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Southern Miss4–⁠18–⁠3
Houston4–⁠17–⁠5
Cincinnati2–⁠36–⁠5
Louisville2–⁠35–⁠6
Memphis2–⁠34–⁠7
Tulane1–⁠42–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.