2006 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

The 2006 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team represented the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Eagles were led by head coach Jeff Bower and played their home games at M. M. Roberts Stadium. They were a member of the East Division of Conference USA.

2006 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
C-USA East Division champion GMAC Bowl champion
C-USA Championship, L 20–34 vs. Houston
GMAC Bowl, W 28–7 vs. Ohio
Conference	Conference USA
Record	9–5 (6–2 C-USA)
Head coach	Jeff Bower (17th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jay Johnson (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Jay Hopson (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	M. M. Roberts Stadium

2006 Conference USA football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Southern Miss x		6	–	2					9	–	5
East Carolina		5	–	3					7	–	6
Marshall		4	–	4					5	–	7
UCF		3	–	5					4	–	8
UAB		2	–	6					3	–	9
Memphis		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
Houston x$		7	–	1					10	–	4
Rice		6	–	2					7	–	6
Tulsa		5	–	3					8	–	5
SMU		4	–	4					6	–	6
UTEP		3	–	5					5	–	7
Tulane		2	–	6					4	–	8
Championship: Houston 34, Southern Miss 20
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	5:00 pm	at No. 7 Florida*	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	PPV	L 7–34	90,043
September 9	6:00 pm	SE Louisiana*	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS		W 45–0	28,258
September 16	6:00 pm	NC State*	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS		W 37–17	31,748
September 26	6:30 pm	at UCF	Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL	ESPN2	W 19–14	23,540
October 3	6:30 pm	at Tulsa	Skelly Stadium Tulsa, OK	ESPN2	L 6–20	20,625
October 14	6:00 pm	Houston	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS		W 31–27	32,317
October 21	6:00 pm	at Virginia Tech*	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPNU	L 6–36	66,233
October 28	6:30 pm	East Carolina	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	CSTV	L 17–20 OT	25,155
November 5	7:00 pm	at Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memphis, TN (Black and Blue Bowl)	ESPN	W 42–21	28,103
November 11	1:00 pm	at Tulane	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA		W 31–3	21,687
November 18	7:00 pm	UAB	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	CSTV	W 25–20	27,749
November 25	6:30 pm	Marshall	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattieburg, MS	CSTV	W 42–7	28,736
December 1	7:00 pm	at Houston	Robertson Stadium Houston, TX (C-USA Championship Game)	ESPN2	L 20–34	31,818
January 7	7:00 pm	vs. Ohio*	Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, AL (GMAC Bowl)	ESPN	W 28–7	38,751
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time