image of the Southern Miss eagle and the Dome for the Southern Miss To The Top SMTTT blog

What Does SMTTT Stand For?

| 2 minute read

It’s everywhere. No doubt you’ve seen SMTTT in an email or noticed it hashtagged at the end of a tweet or the caption of a picture on Facebook or Instagram. For someone who doesn’t know what SMTTT means, it may even seem like a typo. As a student at Southern Miss you’ll learn that it’s not a typo, and it’s more than just a school motto.

Southern Miss To The Top!

If you’ve managed to see Southern Miss sports live, you’ve even heard it. It comes after every big play, every touchdown. A tailgater calls through the smoke from a grill, “Southern Miss!” and without hesitation, other tailgaters from everywhere answer, “To The Top!” It’s a chant that makes friends out of strangers. When our Golden Eagle football team makes a play for a first down, the announcer sets up the crowd:

“First down, Southern Miss!”

And the fans erupt with the response:

“To The Top!”

So, what does SMTTT mean? It means we’re storming down the field, and no one is going to stop us.

For more than just for sports fans

“To The Top!” isn’t a phrase limited just to the world of sports. It’s a mentality that spills from our record setting athletics into our nationally ranked programs—a mentality that our alumni take with them everywhere. “To The Top!” represents our motivation to be the greatest professors, and students and our drive to challenge the problems we face and change them for the better.

SMTTT stands for Southern Miss To The Top. It stands for the determination our students have to impact the world after graduation. By climbing to the top we show our determination and perseverance. We reject the idea that someone else is better by being the best. As an online student, SMTTT is a challenge to be the hardest worker, the most prepared student, and the best person when overcoming an obstacle.

So, when someone asks you what SMTTT is, you can tell them it’s more than just a college football chant. It stands for more than a just goal. It’s a mindset you take with you everywhere. It’s a way for you to tell the world that you are storming down the field, you are climbing to the top, you are the best, and no one is going to stop you.

Southern Miss To The Top!


Office of Online Learning

All blog posts are written and maintained by the Office of Online Learning at The University of Southern Mississippi. We provide support to online students, to faculty teaching online courses, and to units seeking to develop, grow, or improve online programs at the University.

For more information, email us at online@usm.edu.