BLITZ

Basketball Eagles' C-USA schedule gets stronger

Jason Munz
Hattiesburg American

The Southern Miss men’s basketball team will experience an uptick in strength of schedule for the upcoming season.

Last season, the Golden Eagles faced Conference USA champion Middle Tennessee and UAB (the league’s sixth-highest scoring offense) once each — both lopsided losses. In 2017-18, Southern Miss will see those teams twice as opposed to North Texas and Rice.

The change is significant since the Blue Raiders and Blazers combined to finish 48-21 last season, while the Mean Green and Owls were 31-34. The Golden Eagles beat North Texas twice last season and lost to Rice three times (once in the C-USA tournament) by a combined 15 points.

Southern Miss guard Cortez Edwards is one of the Golden Eagles' top returning starters.

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C-USA released the full slate of league games this week. Doc Sadler’s team opens its conference season with a two-game road swing at Marshall (Dec. 28) and Western Kentucky (Dec. 30). The Golden Eagles, who finished 9-22 overall and 6-12 in league play last season, will meet all 13 C-USA teams once before circling back around to tangle with Middle Tennessee, UAB, UTSA, UTEP and Louisiana Tech a second time.

Southern Miss’ conference home opener is set for Jan. 4 against UTEP.

The majority of the Golden Eagles’ non-conference schedule has been finalized, including a road date with Michigan (Nov. 16) in which the program will receive a $95,000 guarantee, according to the game contract the Hattiesburg American obtained via a public records request. Southern Miss will also make $40,000 for taking part in the Sanford Pentagon Showcase in November.

More:Sadler's contract not extended

USM schedule (2017-18)

11/10    OPEN

11/16    at Michigan

11/20    Blue Mountain^

11/24    South Dakota^

11/25    Northern Colorado^

11/26    Youngstown State^

11/29    at South Alabama

12/3       Rust College

12/10    Troy

12/13    at Alabama A&M

12/16    William Carey

12/23    Mississippi State (at Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson)

12/28    at Marshall*

12/30    at Western Kentucky*

1/4         UTEP*

1/6         UTSA*

1/11       at UAB*

1/13       at Middle Tennessee*

1/18       Rice*

1/20       North Texas*

1/27       at Louisiana Tech*

2/1         at FIU*

2/3         at Florida Atlantic*

2/8         Old Dominion*

2/10       Charlotte*

2/15       Middle Tennessee*

2/17       UAB*

2/22       at UTSA*

2/24       at UTEP*

3/3         Louisiana Tech*

^ - Sanford Pentagon Showcase (Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

* - Conference USA game