Recalling the Time Southern Miss and UConn Nearly Clashed in a Bowl

UConn and Southern Mississippi will meet for the first time this Saturday, but few may realize the two schools almost met in a bowl two decades ago.

Ahead of the 2007 bowl season, the Big East had three 9-3 programs and one big problem: figuring out which bowls they would play in.
USF, Cincinnati, and Connecticut all finished 9-3 in a loaded Big East. This made the conference's bowl picture a mess. After the Gator Bowl selected a Big 12 team instead, the Sun Bowl had the first choice after the Bowl Championship Series.

The Sun Bowl chose the next highest BCS-ranked Big East team after conference champion West Virginia, #21 South Florida. The Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte and the PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham had the second and third choice after the BCS, respectively.
UConn and Cincinnati were in tight competition for the Car Care Bowl spot. The PapaJohns.com Bowl had already picked 7-5 Southern Mississippi from Conference USA.

While the Sun Bowl used BCS ranking as a tiebreaker, the Car Care Bowl used conference record to decide between the Bearcats and Huskies. The Huskies had the edge over 23rd-ranked Cincinnati with a 5-2 record in Big East play compared to the Bearcats' 4-3 mark. The Car Care Bowl overlooked the Bearcats' dominant 27-3 win on November 10th.

Thus, the Huskies narrowly avoided a first meeting with Southern Mississippi 19 years ago. UConn lost the Car Care Bowl against Wake Forest 24-10, while Southern Miss lost to Cincinnati 31-20.

Although it will not be a bowl game, tomorrow's meeting between UConn and Southern Miss features two programs similar to their 2007 counterparts. Both are fresh off bowl appearances and on upward trajectories. A win for either would help maintain the credibility both built after resurgent 2025 seasons.