GREENVILLE — East Carolina could do a lot to improve its rivalry with Southern Miss — if that's what you want to call the annual showdown between the two schools.

Based solely on the most widely accepted definition, the series does not qualify for the label.

By and large the games have lacked drama, produced one-sided results, and are missing a genuine hatred that typically exists among the coaches, players and fans involved in a real rivalry. What's more, all the two schools share geographically is a location that makes each a target for hurricanes, albeit on different coasts.

Mix it together and the recipe doesn't produce an entree that remotely resembles a rivalry. Saturday's 33-7 Southern Miss victory was no exception.

True to tradition, the crowd struggled to break 35,000 on a night that was one week removed from one of ECU's most spirited performances in three seasons. And had it not been for the many promotions that fans were offered, the game may not have reached 30 K.

Even more familiar was the sloppy play to which the Pirates have been accustomed when Southern Miss pays a visit. The opening three possessions produced three turnovers, and that proved too much to overcome.

"You're not going to beat anybody," Pirates coach Skip Holtz said. "I don't care who you are. I don't care if you are the Packers playing a high school team.

"If you have five turnovers, you're not going to win. That's how it is."

It's exactly how it has been since the Pirates and Golden Eagles decided that each should be a fixture on the other's schedule. Tee it up, turn it over, and try to avoid a Heisman performance by the Southern Miss QB.

ECU has been historically good at the first two — and traditionally bad at the latter.

Southern Miss quarterback Dustin Almond certainly did his part to uphold the series trend. As did the Pirates, who have rewritten that cliché about the disposal of records. Oh, you can throw them out, because Southern Miss will win handily, save for a handful of exceptions.

So, is this what you call a rivalry?

"I think from our standpoint that it's a rival, because they're one of the better teams in the league," Holtz said. "That's always a game you get up for — one of the better teams in the league.

"Probably the real answer to that question would be from them. Are we a rival? You know, when you beat somebody nine out of ten times, I don't know how much you consider that a rivalry game. We do, because that's where we want to be."

True, there is at least some common ground that the two programs share.

At some point in each school's history, someone declared that football would be the beacon that would lead the charge athletically. Combine that with the uphill climb both face and the third-rate treatment each has received over the years from in-state neighbors, and you have a pair of distant cousins who meet annually at a family reunion.

Of course the same could be said about Marshall, which truthfully could evolve as the Pirates' biggest conference rival (providing both are C-USA members into the foreseeable future). Though East Carolina has faced the Herd far less, the games have been more memorable and have had a greater impact on the gridiron histories of each school.

ECU would like to forget most of its series with Southern Miss, including the most recent installment. Given that, it's tough to justify the Golden Eagles as a legitimate rival.

Once again the proof was on the scoreboard and in the stands.