The 2016 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team represented the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Eagles played their home games at the M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (CâÂÂUSA). They were led by first-year head coach Jay Hopson. They finished the season 7âÂÂ6, 4âÂÂ4 in C-USA play to finish in third place in the West Division. They were invited to the New Orleans Bowl where they defeated LouisianaâÂÂLafayette.
Southern Miss announced its 2016 football schedule on February 4, 2016. The 2016 schedule consists of 6 home and away games in the regular season. The Golden Eagles will host CâÂÂUSA foes Charlotte, Marshall, Louisiana Tech, and Rice, and will travel to North Texas, Old Dominion, UTEP, and UTSA.
The team will play four nonâÂÂconference games, two home games against Savannah State from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Troy from the Sun Belt Conference, and two road games against Kentucky and LSU both from the Southeastern Conference (SEC).