Florida State to play Southern Miss in Independence Bowl

Update: FSU found out Sunday that it will be taking on Southern Miss (8-4, 6-2 in Conference USA) in the Walk-On’s Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana on Wednesday, December 27th at 12:30 p.m.

This will be the Seminoles’ first ever appearance in the Independence Bowl.

FSU and Southern Miss, former Metro Conference foes, have played 21 games between them. The Seminoles lead the all-time series 13-8 and won the most recent matchup 54-14 in 1996 in Tallahassee. Since the Golden Eagles won the first six games of the series, FSU has won 13 of the last 15.

The most notable game of the series came in 1989 when Brett Favre led USM to a 30-26 win over No. 6 FSU in Jacksonville.

This has been a certainty for some time now, but today’s announcement confirms that FSU will not be participating in a BCS/New Years Six bowl for the first time since 2011.

With the Seminoles officially becoming bowl eligible with Saturday’s 42-10 win over Louisiana-Monroe, Florida State is headed to the postseason for an NCAA record for the 36th year in a row. Of course, lots of teams can say they made a bowl game these days, but only FSU can claim a streak that long, throughout college football history.

All that remains at this point is to see whom the ’Noles will play, where, and when. Furthermore, we’ll have to see which Seminoles take the field; recently, certain star players have opted to sit out bowl games in order to avoid injuries that could affect their draft stock. FSU fans will remember Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers sitting out the Orange Bowl to close out last season. We’ve learned that at least one Seminole is mulling that option this time around, too. Florida State is playing to extend its 40-year streak of winning records.