Both the Sun Belt Conference and Southern Miss released the 2022 football schedule, which also included newly added members Old Dominion, Marshall and James Madison.
Southern Miss' conference schedule includes the school in the Sun Belt and features Troy, Arkansas State, Texas State, Louisiana, Georgia State, Coastal Carolina, South Alabama and Louisiana-Monroe.
It’s non-conference, which has not changed, includes Liberty, Miami, Southern Miss and Northwestern State. The Golden Eagles will open the season against Liberty on Sept. 3 at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
Southern Miss, ODU and Marshall’s future schedules have been at the center of a legal battle between the trio and Conference USA.
USM, Marshall and Old Dominion released statement that announced the trio were terminating their membership with C-USA effective June 30, 2022.
In a response C-USA pledged legal action and last week sent three schools a demand for arbitration, which would have a third party make a ruling on their ability to leave the conference. The demand was filed in Dallas, which is where C-USA is headquartered. C-USA then released its 2022 football schedules that included Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss.
In a report by Chris Vannini of The Athletic, Marshall first filed a lawsuit and was granted an injunction through a temporary restraining order.
Southern Miss filed a similar request on the same grounds and noted that the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning is not part of C-USA. The Forrest Count Circuit Court rules in favor of the motion and noted that C-USA, “will not suffer any harm from a brief delay in the arbitration action.”
Old Dominion also filed an injunction on Monday and is set to have a hearing on Tuesday, March 1.
Southern Miss’ next hearing date is March 7, while Marshall’s is scheduled for March 16.
