Thereafter came such nicknames as Normalites (from Mississippi Normal College, the early name of the university), Yellow Jackets, Confederates, and Southerners.

Bowl games, conference championships, and All-American athletes have all been frequent occurrences at Southern Miss.

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team participates as a member of the Sun Belt Conference and plays its home games in M.M.

Thirty All-Americans have played for Southern Miss, including 12 first-team selections, and a number of players have moved on to the National Football League, most notably Dawg Pound creator and three time consecutive Pro-bowler Hanford Dixon, NFL Team of the Century punter Ray Guy and three-time NFL MVP Brett Favre.

Southern Miss has won two conference championships in basketball including a share of the 2001 regular-season title.

In 2014–2015 season the Lady Eagles advanced to the 2015 WNIT Elite 8 vs Michigan, which was the best postseason run in history.

An attendance record was set in lady eagle history on March 29, 2015, when 5,480 spectators watched Southern Miss vs Michigan.

[citation needed] The Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball team made its first ever appearance in the College World Series in 2009.

The Southern Miss Lady Eagles softball team made it to the Women's College World Series in 1999 and 2000 behind the arm of Courtney Blades.

[12][13] Seymour d'Campus has competed in a number of Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) mascot competitions, ranking 21st in 2000, 11th in 2001, 7th in 2002, and 15th in 2003.