Matt Jones has spent countless hours on the radio. After more than a decade on the airwaves, KSR’s Fearless Leader is doing something different. For the very first time, Matt Jones will serve as a play-by-play broadcaster.

Once upon a time, he sat court-side for Kentucky basketball games on SECN+. Providing color commentary for a TV broadcast is completely different than painting a picture as a play-by-play man for a college football postseason.

Matt Jones will be on the lead mic, broadcasting alongside Myron Medcalf for the New Orleans Bowl. The Superdome will host Southern Miss and Western Kentucky for what could be a wildly entertaining game.

You can watch the action on ESPN at 5:30 PM ET, but that won’t be as fun as listening to Matt and Myron on the call for ESPN Radio. It’s unclear if any local ESPN Radio affiliates will be carrying the national broadcast, but you can stream it all online. In addition to this link, you should also be able to search “ESPN Radio” on the iHeart app to be able to pick up the broadcast.

Handicapping the New Orleans Bowl

Southern Miss is looking to cap off an exceptional 2025 season as a 1.5-point favorite over WKU on BetMGM. The Tops opened as 2.5-point favorites, but the line flipped as we approached kickoff.

Southern Miss had only one winning season since 2019, and just one victory last fall, when they brought Charles Huff to Hattiesburg. Nick Saban’s former Alabama assistant had successfully turned around the Marshall football program. He flipped the script this fall, going from one win to seven.

The Sun Belt success caught the eye of Memphis. Huff will be coaching the Tigers next fall. Blake Anderson was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach. A winner at Arkansas State and Utah State, this was an opportunity to get back on his feet. Will the New Orleans Bowl be the start of a great comeback story for Anderson?

Western Kentucky is standing in the Golden Eagles’ way. It’s the seventh straight season Tyson Helton has taken the Tops to a bowl game. They won three consecutive games before falling in last year’s Boca Raton Bowl. WKU has a stout defense that ranks No. 13 nationally in success rate. On the other side of the line of scrimmage, former Wildcat La’Vell Wright ranks fourth in the C-USA with 10 rushing touchdowns.

With a pair of teams at full strength with something to play for, prepare for fireworks in the New Orleans Bowl.