2009 New Orleans Bowl

The 2009 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl was the ninth edition of the bowl. The game was played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday, December 20, 2009. The game was televised live on ESPN. The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, the Sun Belt Conference runners-up, defeated the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, a team from Conference USA, by a score of 42–32. The kickoff took place at 7:30 p.m., Central Time.

Southern Miss returned to the New Orleans Bowl for the second straight season and faced one of the nation's hottest teams, Middle Tennessee. Middle Tennessee reached nine wins for the first time since moving to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1999 and was on a six-game winning streak going into the game, also a team high in that span. The New Orleans Bowl's Sun Belt slot typically goes to the conference champion, but Troy, who lost 30–27 to Southern Miss in the 2008 New Orleans Bowl, played in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, instead, opening the opportunity for Middle Tennessee. The bowl marked the Blue Raiders' second bowl appearance in four seasons. Southern Miss was playing in their 12th bowl in 13 years. It was also the fourth time Southern Miss played in the New Orleans Bowl in the game's nine-year history. They were 3–0 in New Orleans Bowl games before the loss.^[1] The game also marked the first meeting between the two schools.