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SWAC East down to final week
Lut Williams
BCSP Editor
With South Carolina State's 37-13 win over Morgan State Saturday that clinched the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference championship and an automatic berth in the FCS playoffs and Prairie View A&M's 34-14 win over Alcorn State that earned the Panthers their first-ever Southwestern Athletic West Division title and first-ever spot in the Dec. 12 league championship game, all the regular season champions are in, right?
Wrong!
There's just one more bit of business to
be taken care of.
This Saturday Alabama A&M, Jackson State and Alcorn State all enter the final games of their regular seasons with a shot at the SWAC East Division title and a berth opposite Prairie View in the aforementioned title game.
Here's how it breaks down.
Alabama A&M (6-4, 3-3) has the simplest route. The Bulldogs win the East with a win Saturday (1 p.m.) over Mississippi Valley State (3-7, 1-5).
JSU (3-6, 3-3) and Alcorn State (2-6, 2-4) first need A&M to lose. If so, whoever wins their traditional season-ending Capital City Classic battle Saturday (1 p.m.) in Jackson, Ms., wins the East title.
Jackson State has represented the East in the past two SWAC Championship games in both seasons of head coach Rick Comegys' tenure, losing to Grambling last season and beating the G-Men in 2007. Alabama A&M went to three championship games, two under current head coach Anthony Jones before winning the 2006 title over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Alcorn State has never reached the championship game since the contest was re-instituted in 1999. The Braves are in their first year under head coach Earnest Collins.
Elsewhere in the SWAC, Henry Frazier's Panthers of Prairie View A&M (7-1, 6-0) will look to complete their historic run with an unblemished conference record as they end the regular season Saturday hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-3, 3-2).
Prairie View is up to 20th in this week's Sports Network Top 25 poll.
The real battle in the SWAC West however is for second place where the other four division teams Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-3, 3-2), Grambling State (6-4, 4-2), Southern (6-3, 3-2) and Texas Southern (4-5, 3-2) are still alive.
A win over division champ Prairie View Saturday would give UAPB, in its second year under former Washington Redskins' linebacker Monte Coleman, a nice feather in its cap. UAPB closes out the regular season with a Nov. 28 date vs. Texas Southern. UAPB beat Grambling and lost to Southern. The other loss on its division ledger was to Alabama A&M.
Texas Southern is off this week but closes with dates vs. UAPB in Dallas (Nov. 28) and at home vs. Southern (Dec. 5). TSU has lost to Grambling and Prairie View.
Grambling is also off this week and closes with next Saturday's (Nov. 28) annual New Orleans date with Southern at the Bayou Classic. The G-Men have division losses to Prairie View and UAPB.
Southern, likewise, is off this week before dates vs. Grambling and TSU. Southern has a loss to Prairie View and a loss to Jackson State that counts on its division ledger.
MEAC
South Carolina State (9-1, 7-0) finishes the regular season at home Saturday (1:30 p.m.) vs. North Carolina A&T (4-5, 3-4). The Bulldogs will then find out on Sunday who they will face in the first round of the FCS playoffs. SCSU head coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough said after Saturday's win over Morgan State that it would be great for Bulldog fans if his team could host a first-round playoff game. That scenario appears likely after SCSU moved up to seventh and received two first-place votes in this week's Sports Network FCS poll. But they also probably need a convincing win over A&T to get the home game.
In last year's playoffs, the Bulldogs went on the road to face three-time FCS defending champion Appalachian State and fought gamely before succumbing 37-21. They trailed just 24-21 with nine minutes left.
Pough said his team proved a year ago that it belonged in the company of the best FCS playoff teams and looks forward to returning to that venue. His team has looked dominant while running thru the MEAC this season and appears ready to perhaps end the conference's nine-year playoff losing streak.
In other MEAC games this week, Florida A&M (7-3, 5-2), who suffered a big blow Saturday when quarterback Curtis Pulley went out with a groin injury in the first quarter of a 25-0 shutout loss to Hampton, faces in-state rival Bethune-Cookman in Orlando (2:30 p.m.) in their season-ending Florida Classic battle.
The game will be carried live on ESPN Classic.
After rising as high as 21st in the FCS Top 25 poll, the Rattlers fell out of the poll following the loss to Hampton. To have any shot at a playoff berth, Joe Taylor's Rattlers must defeat B-CU.
After starting the season 0-4, 0-3 in MEAC play, Alvin Wyatt's B-CU squad (5-5, 4-3) has won five of its last six games. With a win Saturday, the Wildcats could end up tied for second in the conference with Norfolk State and FAMU.
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