UConn and Southern Miss both blew up their rosters this offseason, so nobody really knows what either team is yet — which makes this early-season road trip more interesting than it has any right to be.
Bush’s Picks
CONNUSM
CONNUSM
OverUnder
Best BetSouthern Miss
Southern Miss opens as the expected favorite here, and the case is straightforward: UConn projects as one of the weaker rosters in the country this year despite the Toledo talent infusion, while the Golden Eagles get a game-tested quarterback in Ethan Hampton and home cooking at The Rock. It's not a layup — both rosters are basically brand new — but the gap in outside expectations favors Southern Miss winning outright.
UConn
+Candle imported 56 transfers, 19 straight from Toledo
+Five ex-Toledo defenders including Sherman, Lista lead a retooled D
−SP+ projects UConn among the lowest-ranked teams nationally
−Lost leading receiver Skyler Bell and O-line depth
Southern Miss
+QB Ethan Hampton helped upset #5 Notre Dame in 2024
+Home crowd at The Rock, local writers unanimously pick USM here
Start with the coaching carousel. Jason Candle took over in East Hartford after Jim Mora bolted for Colorado State, and Candle didn't just bring his own staff from Toledo — he brought half the roster. Reports have 56 transfers coming in, 19 of them following him straight from Toledo, essentially importing a program wholesale rather than rebuilding from scratch.
Southern Miss went even further in the other direction. First-year coach Blake Anderson said it himself: no team in the country turned over more players than his did, and he's building the two-deep from zero. Only one starter returns from a year ago — center Broderick Roman — and the defense is a total teardown. The one steadying piece is under center, where sixth-year quarterback Ethan Hampton takes over after helping Northern Illinois shock a top-5 Notre Dame back in 2024. That kind of been-there experience matters when everything else around him is new.
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CONN UConn
USM Southern Miss
None of that uncertainty stops national models from having an opinion. UConn projects as one of the lower-ranked teams in the country this season, while Southern Miss enters as a preseason middle-of-the-pack Sun Belt West pick. Books haven't posted a number on this one yet, but expect Southern Miss to open as a home favorite given where each program is expected to land.
UConn Huskies
Sep 12?vs Maryland—
Sep 5?vs Lafayette—
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Sep 12?@ Auburn—
Sep 5?vs Alcorn State—
Recent form.
The scouting report on UConn's defense is actually one of the more encouraging threads for the Huskies: five players off Toledo's defense are expected to make an immediate impact, led by linebacker K'Von Sherman and John Lista, who racked up 78 tackles a year ago before transferring in. If that group gels quickly, it could bail out an offense that lost its leading receiver, Skyler Bell, and a chunk of its offensive-line depth in the portal churn.
UConn Huskies
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
For Southern Miss, the calculus is simpler and more homegrown: win at The Rock behind a raucous crowd and a quarterback who's seen bigger stages, before the Sun Belt slate gets serious. Local beat writers who cover the program every day have been unanimous in predicting a Golden Eagles win here, which tells you plenty about how outsiders view UConn's ceiling this year even with the Toledo talent infusion. Whichever roster finds its identity first in September figures to have the early edge, and this is as good a measuring-stick game as either team gets before conference play tightens up.
