Southern Miss to host Alcorn State in 2023 and 2026, possibly Jackson State in 2025

By Kevin Kelley -

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles will host the Alcorn State Braves in 2023 and 2026, FBSchedules.com has confirmed.

Back in December, Southern Miss Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain first mentioned the 2023 Alcorn State contest on SuperTalk Eagle Hour, but noted that the contract was not yet finalized.

On Wednesday, the Alcorn State Braves announced their 2023 football schedule and Southern Miss was included. Southern Miss will host Alcorn State at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, which will be the season opener for both schools.

Shortly afterwards, we received the contract for the 2023 game, which also includes a second contest against Alcorn State on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026. The Golden Eagles will pay the Braves a $400,000 guarantee for each contest, per the copy of the contract.

Southern Miss and Alcorn State first met on the gridiron in 2009 and have played three contests overall. In their most recent meeting in 2019, the Golden Eagles defeated the Braves 28-10 to extend their advantage in the series to 3-0.

Jeremy McClain also stated on the SuperTalk Eagle Hour in December that Southern Miss is in discussions to play a future game against the Jackson State Tigers.

“We’re working with Jackson State, been working with them for about a year, to get them back on the schedule down the road, hopefully in 2025,” McClain said.

Southern Miss and Jackson State last met on the gridiron in 2018, which resulted in a 55-7 victory for the Golden Eagles. The two schools have played three times overall and Southern Miss leads the series 3-0.

Note: This article was updated with new information after a copy of the Jackson State contract was received from USM.

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