Sometimes you can’t keep a good rivalry down.

Even if both participants depart for separate conferences following more than two decades of I-59 supremacy.

The UAB basketball team returns home for at least one more time this season as the Blazers play host to former conference rival Southern Miss in today’ NIT opening-round matchup at Bartow Arena in Birmingham.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

“Based on numbers, we knew what we had to do to get into the NCAA tournament and, after we got through Rice, we felt as though we would (at least) get an NIT opportunity,” UAB head coach Andy Kennedy said. “I was anticipating us getting a home game and was pleased to see we got a home game. It’ll be a quick turnaround but we’re excited to have the opportunity to continue to play.”

RELATED: New UAB football coach Trent Dilfer contract details revealed

RELATED: UAB basketball selected No. 4 seed in NIT; Blazers host former rival Southern Miss

The Blazers enter the NIT at 25-9 overall — having won 12 of its last 14 games — following a loss to FAU in the C-USA tournament title game and rank ninth in scoring offense (82.2 ppg) and second in both total rebounds (41.2 rpg) and offensive rebounds (13.8 rpg).

Jordan “Jelly” Walker, the nation’s third-leading scorer (23.3 ppg), is obviously disappointed in how UAB performed in the league title game but appreciates the opportunity afforded to his team in allowing himself and five other seniors at least another game to play in their respective careers.

“A lot of teams — a lot of players — in the country are not playing basketball anymore, their (seniors) college careers are over,” Walker said. “It’s a blessing we’re still able to play and have the opportunity to show how good we are. We slipped up in the championship game and obviously, we’re not where we want to be, but having an opportunity to continue to play and play for something is a blessing.”

The Blazers matchup with former C-USA rival Southern Miss, which UAB owns a 36-19 overall record in the series — winning the last four meetings — and a 31-17 record as conference foes. Both programs joined C-USA as charter members in 1995 and were conference rivals for more than two decades until Southern Miss departed to the Sun Belt for the 2022-2023 season.

“I haven’t watched them play a lot but they won the Sun Belt regular season (title),” Walker said. “Doing that is big — turning it around from not winning many games to winning 25 games is really good. We can’t take them for granted or overlook them.”

Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner led the Golden Eagles to a 24-65 record in his first three years before having one of the best turnarounds in college basketball history in finishing this season at 25-7 overall and securing the Sun Belt regular-season title.

“With the transfer portal, things can change quickly,” Kennedy said. “He (Ladner) has a brand new staff, all first-year guys, and brought in a number of impact guys (on the court).”

The Golden Eagles brought in multiple players from the portal but none have more of an impact than Austin Crowley and Felipe Haase.

Crowley, an Ole Miss transfer, is the leading scorer for the team, averaging 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals, and Haase, a Mercer transfer who started his career at South Carolina, is second on the team with an average of 15.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.0 assist. Both players shoot at least 35.8 percent from beyond the arc, along with three-year starter DeAndre Pinckney (12.9 points and 6.8 rebounds).

“I’m very familiar with him (Crowley), a Mississippi kid who signed at Ole Miss,” Kennedy said. “When I was at Ole Miss, I remember recruiting him when he was young. He’s a first-team all-league player, newcomer of the year in the league and made a dramatic impact.”

“Then Felipe Haase, a sixth-year senior, who started out with a good friend of mine, Frank Martin, at South Carolina,” he added. “When I was doing my TV stuff, I covered him and he’s a guy that will be the most interesting matchup for us at the 5 (spot) all year.”

Provided UAB can defeat Southern Miss, a plethora of potential storylines open up as the Blazers advance through the NIT. A potential second-round matchup could involve Clemson, where Trey Jemison originally signed before transferring to UAB, and a quarterfinal game could see a rematch of the Blazers and Toledo, who met in the second game of the season.

“We have been diving in to get as much information as possible to deliver to our team in a way in which they can digest it and be ready to play,” Kennedy said. “I’ve been in this NIT a number of times and here’s what you figure out — you figure out who wants to be here. Then you can build because all of those teams, at one time, were in play for an NCAA tournament appearance and you figure out who wants to be here.”