Southern Miss will battle Florida State in the Independence Bowl

Southern Miss will get the Power 5 bowl match-up that fans always hope for.

The Golden Eagles (8-4) will take on Florida State (6-6) at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 27 in the Walk-On's Independence Bowl in Shreveport, the Sun Herald has confirmed.

Florida State beat Louisiana-Monroe 42-10 on Saturday to clinch a bowl bid despite dealing with the departure of head coach Jimbo Fisher to Texas A&M this week. Fisher had a record of 83-23 in eight seasons at FSU and won the 2013 national title.

Long-time FSU assistant Odell Haggins served as the team's interim head coach during Saturday's win over ULM.

Florida State leads the all-time series against Southern Miss with a record of 13-8-1.

The Seminoles won the last meeting between the two teams, 54-14, in Tallahassee in 1996.

One of the more memorable games in the series for USM fans took place in 1989 when quarterback Brett Favre led the Golden Eagles to a 30-26 win over Florida State in Jacksonville, Florida.

Haggins, a former FSU defensive lineman, was a senior on the 1989 team that lost to the Golden Eagles.

Florida State and Southern Miss were fellow members of the Metro Conference from 1982-91. The conference never sponsored football.

Florida State holds an NCAA-best streak for consecutive bowl appearances with 36.

The will be USM's third Independence Bowl and its first bid to the Shreveport game since beating UTEP 38-18 in 1988.

This story was originally published December 3, 2017 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Southern Miss will battle Florida State in the Independence Bowl."