My guess as well. Road Dawgs tour Mullen said they drew a circle around Starkville and started calling OOC opponents, and kept expanding out until they got someone.
It is a great area. I live in Cary, suburb of Raleigh. Ocean is 1.5 hours to the east and mountains about 3 hours to the west. Numerous great golf courses. Duke, UNC, and NC State are all the vicinity.
That's a LONG & miserable 1-1/2 hrs to the ocean from Cary. But it's worth it. The northern outer banks is a great area. Good beaches, nice towns, kitty hawk, & a 3-story height limit on buildings so it doesn't get crowded. Fun trip.