Southern Miss' Todd Monken glad to have rare bowl opportunity vs. Power 5 Washington
HATTIESBURG -- Southern Miss football coach Todd Monken took a shot at the college bowl system on Monday.
"It absolutely stinks that the way the bowl setup is now that you have very few non-Power 5 (teams) -- whatever that is -- with Power 5 (teams) that get to play each other," Monken said. "I think that absolutely stinks. To not let that opportunity where it's matched up to where they play each other and the non (Power 5s) play each other. I think that's an injustice to the other teams."
The Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl, however, is different, as Southern Miss, a non-Power 5 team from Conference USA, will play Washington (6-6), a Power 5 team from the Pac-12 Conference.
"We have one of those opportunities and we're excited about it," Monken said. "We're going to play a really good Washington team with a heck of a football coach (Chris Peterson) that has done it at another place and is doing it there. We're excited. I'm excited, as a coach. I get to go up against a real good football coach.
"We wanted to go there. We wanted to be in a position to play a team from a Power 5 conference. And we got it."
The Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl will be held at 1:20 p.m. Dec. 26 at the Cotton Bowl.
The Southern Miss players' eyes light up when talking about it. And why not, since the Golden Eagles' last bowl came in 2011. Since they, USM went 0-12, 1-11 and 3-9, far, far away from receiving an invitation to even the most insignificant of bowls.
But this season, Southern Miss went 9-3 in the regular season, won Conference USA's West Division title and played for the league championship before falling to Western Kentucky.
The success earned the Eagles the right to play in a bowl, and nobody is complaining about that.
"This is my first time going to a bowl," junior wide receiver D.J. Thompson said. "I'm excited about it. It means everything."
There should be more than football involved.
"I feel like it's supposed to be a trip of fun, but it's also a trip of business," Thompson said. "We can't think, 'Hey, we're just supposed to go down there and have a good time.' We're going to have a good time, there are going to be many events for us to do, but the most important thing is winning the game and I think we're going to do that."
That is foremost in Monken's mind, too, and he hopes his players heed his instructions.
"I think, at this point, they're just excited and want to know how much money we get, what the curfew is, what gifts we're going to get and what's Dallas like," Monken said.
"We have to get them back in, you know, there is a game."
Tickets to the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl can be purchased by going to southernmisstickets.com or by calling 1-800-844-8425.
This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Southern Miss' Todd Monken glad to have rare bowl opportunity vs. Power 5 Washington ."