The school’s earliest nickname was Tigers, and the other nicknames are Normalites, from Mississippi Normal College, the early name of the University, Yellow Jackets, Confederates, and Southerners. Golden Eagles was selected in a student/alumni vote in the early 1970s. The name of the modern-day mascot eagle is Seymour d'Campus. Southern Miss has a long history in the NCAA, and its intercollegiate sports teams operate under the auspices of the university’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics sponsors. Students from The University of Southern Mississippi compete on the athletic field as Golden Eagles, in Conference USA.
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Their official uniform colors are black and gold, and their home football games are played at the Roberts Stadium, which is often called "The Rock". The rivalry between Southern Miss and Tulane is known as The Battle for the Bell, and both teams are in Conference USA and played each other every year until 2006, when the league was split into East and West divisions. Following their 2006 meeting, Southern Miss leads the series 21-7. At the end of 2006, the Golden Eagles were one of a handful of Division I schools with at least 13 consecutive winning seasons, a distinction they shared with the University of Michigan, Florida State University, Virginia Tech, and the University of Florida, and they had also appeared in 9 bowl games in the last 10 years, 5 of them consecutively. The Golden Eagles football team has played for 5 conference titles winning 4 of them, with their most recent coming in 2003.