Five teams that reached bowl games, including two ranked teams, highlight the 2012 Southern Miss football schedule announced on Thursday.

It’s a challenging schedule for new head coach Ellis Johnson, but does include six home games. Read the official school announcement here.

The Golden Eagles, who finished 12-2 last season and ranked No. 20 by the AP after a Hawaii Bowl victory, open the season on Sept. 1 at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers (9-4) were ranked No. 24 in both polls at the end of the season.

After an open week, Southern Miss has its home opener against East Carolina. Other home games are against Louisville (Sept. 29), Boise State (Oct. 6), homecoming against Marshall (Oct. 20), UAB (Nov. 3) and UTEP (Nov. 17).

Boise State (12-1) finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

The Golden Eagles will close their regular season at Memphis (Nov. 24).

2012 Southern Miss schedule

Sept. 1    at Nebraska

Sept. 8    Open week

Sept. 15  East Carolina*

Sept. 22  at Western Kentucky

Sept. 29  Louisville

Oct. 6     Boise State     

Oct. 13   at Central Florida*

Oct. 20   Marshall* (Homecoming)        

Oct. 27   at Rice*

Nov. 3     UAB*

Nov. 10   at SMU*

Nov. 17   UTEP*

Nov. 24   at Memphis*

* Conference USA game

In putting together today's column about the Ole Miss players on each of the four remaning NFL finalists, I did try to tip my hat to players from the state's other schools in the conference championship games. In the process, though, I overlooked Pernell McPhee.

The rookie defensive end from Mississippi State, who began his career at ICC, was a fifth-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens. He made a quick impact as a backup, registering six sacks - including two in one game, against the Browns.

It was widely expected that the complete 2012 SEC football schedule would be under the tree in time for Christmas. Instead, it may be released on Monday, according to the Gainesville Sun. Story here.

The league has been trying to stitch together a “patchwork” 2012 schedule to account for the addition of new members Texas A&M and Missouri. A new schedule rotation for 2013 and beyond will be assembled in the new year.

ESPN blogger Chris Low dropped some hints about the schedule on Thursday.

It had been previously reported that new SEC Western Division member Texas A&M will visit both Ole Miss and Mississippi State in 2012.

The Sun reported that Florida will not host Ole Miss in the fall, as had been called for in the pre-expansion schedule. There are reports the Rebels will play Georgia and Vanderbilt from the SEC Eastern Division.

Little else has been reported about Mississippi State’s 2012 league schedule, other than it will include a visit from Tennessee.

Elsewhere, it’s been reported that Georgia will avoid a 2012 game with Alabama that had been previously in the SEC rotation, and that the Bulldogs’ usual SEC opener with South Carolina will be moved to October.

It’s too early to get excited, but CBSsports.com contributor Jerry Palm projects that both Mississippi State and Ole Miss will reach the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Southern Miss, meanwhile, would be the first team to miss the field of 68.

Palm has MSU as a No. 6 seed and Ole Miss as a No. 9 seed in the South Region. The Bulldogs and Rebels couldn’t meet until the regional finals.

Palm sees Kentucky, Ohio State, Duke and Syracuse as the top seeds in the four regions.

In his early crunch of the Ratings Percentage Index numbers, Ole Miss is No. 11 in Palm’s RPI, with Mississippi State No. 67.

Other SEC teams that Palm projects into the field: Alabama (No. 4 seed), Florida (No. 7) and Vanderbilt (No. 11). Both future SEC members make the field – Missouri (No. 3 seed) and Texas A&M (No. 8). 

He has Memphis as a No. 6 seed, Jackson State as a No. 16.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it will be a quiet weekend after several very crazy days on the college football beat.

That's not to say there won't continue to be a lot of gossip, just not much solid news.

It seems likely that whatever news might crop up this weekend will come after the bowl announcements are made on Sunday, so perhaps the rumor mill will get cranked up again Sunday night and Monday morning.

If the Ole Miss choice is Kirby Smart, the Alabama defensive co-ordinator, it would make sense if that news was delvered early next week. Smart might well remain a part of the Crimson Tide staff for the BCS Championship game, as Dan Mullen did at Florida before settling into his chair at Mississippi State.

If it's not Smart ... well, who knows? The name of Arkansas State head coach Hugh Freeze continues to crop up from various sources. And, honestly, it's not outrageous to suggest that some other candidate might actually emerge when it's time to pull on the Rebels' cap at an introductory news conference.

I'm not sure you can rule anybody out at this point other than Houston Nutt and Ed Orgeron.

Our Parrish Alford will be at Arkansas State on Saturday for the ed Wolves' regular-season finale against Troy. We'll see what Freeze has to say when the game is over.

I tossed some names around last week while talking about the Ole Miss football coaching vacancy. Let's check in on those guys and add a couple of new names to the list:

Updated Monday night to reflect Arizona's hiring of Rich Rodriguez, other developments.

Art Briles, 55 (turns 56 on Dec. 3), Baylor head coach: There's some chatter that Briles, who has led Baylor to back-to-back seven-win seasons, is rising on the charts in Oxford. Here is an open letter calling for Baylor to pay the man. You may have watched his work late Saturday night, as the Bears beat Oklahoma 45-38.

Briles is 56-53 in stops at Baylor and previously at Houston. In each case, the teams had fallen on hard times before he arrived. Presumably, he would help Ole Miss get a quick handhold on recruiting in Texas – a big issue now that Texas A&M is headed to the league.

Mario Cristobal, 41, Florida International head coach: His team improved to 7-4 by beating Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. No new buzz in the past week; with so much chaos in Florida right now, there may soon be opportunities close to home.

Manny Diaz, 37, Texas defensive coordinator: The Longhorns lost 17-13 to Kansas State, but Diaz is getting raves for his efforts in Austin. And a plurality (35%) of voters at our website last week thought he would be the Rebels' best choice. By all accounts, the former Mississippi State assistant seems ready to step up as a head coach. A defensive guy, yes, but it's defense that wins titles in the SEC. And he would set up a rent-free three-bedroom condo in Dan Mullen's head from the moment he got to Oxford.

Sonny Dykes, 42, Louisiana Tech head coach: His Bulldogs are 7-4 and on a six-game winning streak, including that 27-7 win in Oxford. There was some talk in the past week of his being a possible candidate at Arizona, where he was an offensive coordinator, bu that job has now been filled. He also was OC at Texas Tech under Mike Leach.

Larry Fedora, 49, Southern Miss head coach: No, losing last week at UAB should not affect his status as an attractive coaching candidate. Losing to UAB three years in a row … well, heck, maybe that should.

Hugh Freeze, 42, Arkansas State head coach: The Red Wolves are on an eight-game winning streak and are headed to a bowl game in Mobile. He was part of Ed Orgeron's staff, which means he has seen recruiting done right in Oxford. And he's been a quick winner as a head coach at Lambuth and ASU, so maybe he learned some other stuff.

Skip Holtz, 47, South Florida head coach: USF has lost 5 of 6. Can't help him as a serious SEC prospect just now, yet there's talk that North Carolina wants him.

Mark Hudspeth, 43, Louisiana-Lafayette head coach: The former North Alabama head coach, whose Ragin Cajuns are 8-3 in his first season, could generate some buzz when his team goes to Arizona this weekend. His team is also headed to the New Orleans Bowl.

Mike Leach, 50, former Texas Tech head coach: Gets his name attached to just about every significant vacancy, including the one in Oxford. No new developments in the past week. It seems to me, though, that when inactive coaches like Leach can talk to the press about open jobs while currently employed coaches cannot, it tends to distort reality a little.

Gus Malzahn, 46, Auburn offensive coordinator: I thought it was significant that Malzahn's wife started following my Twitter account last week – but as soon as I pointed that out, she was gone. Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports tweeted last week that Malzahn is “favoring Ole Miss.” (I'm still favoring my left ankle after tweaking it over the weekend.)

Kirby Smart, 35, Alabama defensive coordinator: Doesn't talk to media from behind walls of Fortress Saban. Destined for big things, but it's still hard seeing him wanting to start in SEC West.

Charlie Strong, 51, Louisville head coach: Best known as a defensive coach, his Cardinals are now 6-5 on the season but rank 108th in scoring. Not a good selling point, plus he just signed that extension through 2018 or some such.

Tommy Tuberville, 57, Texas Tech head coach: His Red Raiders (2-6) have now lost four in a row since stunning Oklahoma. As I said last week, Lubbock folks would be happy to pack his van for a (far-fetched) return trip to Oxford.

Off the list

Rich Rodriguez, 48, former West Virginia and Michigan coach: Will be introduced as Arizona's new head coach on Tuesday.

What I wrote on Sunday night: Added to this list by popular demand. Like Leach, another one of those kitchen sink guys whose names get put on lists like this. Called Ole Miss “a special place” in an interview with the Memphis paper a few days ago. Let me remind you of this score from last season: Mississippi State 52, Michigan 14. Yeah, that was him.

The Battle for the Golden Egg in Starkville is set for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Nov. 26 and will be seen on ESPNU.

The TV schedule for the final regular-season weekend was finalized on Monday.

Mississippi State takes a two-game winning streak in the series into the game, which will serve as the final appearance for Houston Nutt as the Ole Miss coach.

The weekend gets an early start with Arkansas visiting LSU on Friday, Nov. 25, with a 1:30 p.m. (fixed) kickoff on CBS.

The next day, Tennessee at Kentucky is the 11:21 a.m. game on the SEC Network. The Iron Bowl game, Alabama at Auburn, is set for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on CBS.

Three other significant rivalry games are set for Nov. 26. Georgia’s visit to Georgia Tech is set for an 11 a.m. kickoff on either ABC or ESPN, followed by Florida State at Florida (6 p.m., ESPN2) and Clemson at South Carolina (6:45 p.m., ESPN).

Also, Vanderbilt visits Wake Forest with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff on ESPNU

Saturday’s loss at home didn’t keep Delta State from earning a first-round bye in the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The Statesmen (9-2) will be the No. 1 seed in Super Region II and will await the winner of a first-round game, North Alabama (8-2) at West Alabama (8-3). Will Hall, from Amory, is the first-year coach at West Alabama.

Delta State, the top-ranked D-II team for the past month, lost 39-35 to West Georgia on Saturday.

“We’re pleased to be the top seed in Super Region II,” said Delta State head coach Ron Roberts. “We believe our body of work spoke for itself and we’re ready to get back to work and start preparing for our next opponent.  Obviously, it will be another GSC war regardless of who we play.”

The second-round matchup will be at noon on Nov. 26 in Cleveland. The Statesmen reached the D-II finals last season.

Second-seeded Mars Hill (8-2) awaits the winner between North Greenville (9-2) and  Albany State (8-3).