University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Houston Bowl One of Top Ranked Bowls In Nation
1/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Houston Bowl One of Top Ranked Bowls In Nation
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Even though the Golden Eagles didn't win the Houston Bowl against Oklahoma State, the overall experience proved to be a positive one for the team and the athletic department as a whole. As proven in the television ratings, the game was not only enjoyed by people in the stands but by people at home as well.
The fifth bowl game in the last six years for Southern Miss, the Houston Bowl provided an outstanding atmosphere for the players, as well as the solid contingent of Golden Eagles fans that attended the game. Reliant Stadium lived up to the coaches, players and fans expectations as one of the premier bowl sites in the nation.
The game lived up to its billing with plenty of excitement all the way to the end. OSU enjoyed a touchdown lead after the first quarter and at halftime, only to see the Golden Eagles come back and put up 10 unanswered points in the third quarter, taking a three-point lead, 23-20. The fourth-quarter belonged to the Cowboys as they scored two touchdowns and scored 13 points to provide the final outcome, a 10-point victory by Oklahoma State.
The Dec. 27 game enjoyed the eighth-highest rating of the 20 bowl games televised by ESPN or ESPN2, surpassing the numbers of the GMAC Bowl, The Liberty Bowl, The New Orleans Bowl and the Conagra Foods Hawaii Bowl. That makes the Southern Miss-Oklahoma State the highest rated of all the Conference USA bowl games.
The Houston Bowl enjoyed a 2.61 rating, which means the game was viewed by 2.27 million households. That game was the second-highest rated weekday afternoon bowl game of all of the ESPN games. In addition to the bowl game, the Southern Miss - Louisville game on Nov. 14 drew a 1.47 rating (1.275 million homes), the third-highest among Conference USA regular-season games.
The Golden Eagles finished with a 7-6 record, marking the ninth-straight winning season. They are one of only 10 schools in the country to accomplish that feat.
