- Copyright 2024 © CollegeFootballPoll.com
- About CFP / Contact
- Legal Statements
The Southwest Athletic Conference, founded in 1920, basked in the notoriety of the Deion Sanders' coaching era at Jackson State. Under Sanders' tutelage, the Tigers won the conference championship in the last two years of his 3-year reign. But many other schools benefited from his presence through ticket sales, fundraising and greater national exposure.
He was known as Deion "Prime Time" Sanders as a player and became "Coach Prime" practically overnight. He was a 2011 inductee to the College Football Hall of Fame for his career at Florida State, and the NFL Hall of Fame for his professional career that began as a 1st round pick (5th overall) by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1989 NFL Draft. He simultaneously had a MLB career and, in 1989, hit a major league home run and scored an NFL touchdown in the same week.
Will we ever see another like him, or his two-sport counterpart, Bo Jackson? The odds say that's very unlikely.
Alas, Sanders left the FCS coaching ranks after the 2022 campaign, accepting the gig at FBS member Colorado. Fifteen Jackson State players almost immediately entered the transfer portal. Sanders ultimately took six of those with him, including his two sons, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and defensive back Shilo Sanders. The other transfers from JSU to the Buffs were were two-way player Travis Hunter, safety Cam'Ron Simon-Craig, offensive lineman Tyler Brown and Alejandro Mata. Politte was the snapper on extra points and field goal attempts for Mata. Hunter shocked the world when he committed to Anders at Jackson State as the No. 1 over-all recruit in 2022.
Interestingly, eighteen Colorado players entered the portal this past Monday (April 24) after Spring football had concluded.
The top questions are obvious. How will Jackson State do this year with the losses of the head coach and so many top players? And can the SWAC can maintain any of the momentum it built off the shoulders of Sanders?.
The man charged with that responsibility at Jackson State is T.C. Taylor. He was publicly recommended for the job by Sanders and was named as the successor on December 13. The former Jackson State standout wide receiver (1998-2001) returned as an assistant in 2019 and coached that position for Sanders.
Changes at the top were also made by Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Bethune-Cookman, and Mississippi Valley State.
UAPB fired Doc Gamble after a 2-5 start and offensive coordinator Don Treadwell served out the season as the interim head coach. Alonzo Hampton was hired on December 22 after spending the last two seasons at his alma mater, ULM. He worked for Willie Taggart at Florida State, Oregon, South Florida and Western Kentucky.
Bethune-Cookman wound up with another Taggart disciple after a very public hiring and firing of Ed Reed. After the former Miami Hurricanes and Baltimore Ravens star blasted the school for a lack of funds and no contract, the Wildcats dumped him and moved on to Raymond Woodie, Jr. He was a four-year letterwinner at Bethune-Cookman and a 1996 graduate of the school. He also brings an extensive resume as an assistant coach at such FBS programs as USF (2013-16), Oregon (2017), FSU (2018-19) and, most recently, FAU (2020-22) - all stops that coincide with Willie Taggart's moves as a head coach.
Woodie replaces Terry Sims who was fired on November 29 after a 3-8 season and a 38-39 mark in 7 seasons. He was 34-21 as a MEAC member before Covid closed down the program for 2020. Sims was just 4-18 in the SWAC from 2021-2022.
Mississippi Valley State lost head coach Vincent Dancy (2-9) when Sanders hired him to coach safeties at Colorado. He was 10-38 in 5 seasons with the Delta Devils. Dancy's replacement is Kendrick Wade, a former wide receiver for the Delta Devils, a former assistant coach with the program, and an alum who has a Bachelor and Master's degree from the school.
There are no changes to the 12-school, 2-division lineup and no automatic bid to compete for as the champion plays the MEAC champion in the Celebration Bowl.
Here is the school membership for 2023:
East Division:
Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Bethune-Cookman
Florida A&M
Jackson State
Mississippi Valley State
West Division:
Alcorn State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Grambling State
Prairie View A&M
Southern
Texas Southern
ALABAMA A&M
9/2 at Vanderbilt
9/9 Lane(D2)
9/16 at Southern*
9/23 Arkansas-Pine Bluff*
9/30 Tuskegee (D2)
10/7 Jackson State* (at Mobile)
10/14 at Grambling State*
10/28 Alabama State* (at Birmingham)
11/4 Florida A&M*
11/11 at Bethune-Cookman*
11/18 Mississippi Valley State*
ALABAMA STATE
9/2 Southern
9/9 Miles College
9/23 at Florida A&M*
9/30 Alcorn State*
10/7 Bethune-Cookman*
10/14 at Jackson State*
10/28 at Alabama A&M* (at Birmingham)
11/4 at Grambling State*
11/11 at Mississippi Valley State*
11/18 at Prairie View A&M*
11/23 Tuskegee (D2)
* Game against SWAC member Southern does not count as a SWAC game
ALCORN STATE
9/2 at Southern Mississippi
9/9 at Stephen F. Austin
9/16 McNeese State
9/23 Prairie View A&M*
9/30 at Alabama State*
10/7 Grambling State*
10/21 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff*
10/28 Mississippi Valley State*
11/4 Southern*
11/11 at Texas Southern*
11/18 at Jackson State*
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF
9/2 at Tulsa
9/9 Tennessee State (at Memphis)
9/16 Miles (D2)
9/23 at Alabama A&M*
9/30 Southern*
10/14 at Mississippi Valley State*
10/21 Alcorn State*
10/28 Jackson State*
11/4 at Prairie View A&M*
11/11 Grambling State*
11/18 at Texas Southern*
BETHUNE-COOKMAN
9/2 at Memphis
9/9 Savannah State (D2)
9/14 at Miami (FLA)
9/23 at Jackson State*
10/7 at Alabama State*
10/14 Texas Southern*
10/21 Southern*
10/28 at Grambling State*
11/4 Mississippi Valley State*
11/11 Alabama A&M*
11/18 Florida A&M* (at Orlando)
FLORIDA A&M
9/3 Jackson State* (at Miami)
9/9 at South Florida
9/16 West Florida (D2)
9/23 Alabama State*
9/30 at Mississippi Valley State*
10/7 at Southern*
10/21 at Texas Southern*
10/28 Prairie View A&M*
11/4 at Alabama A&M*
11/11 Lincoln, CA (D2)
11/18 Bethune-Cookman* (at Orlando)
GRAMBLING STATE
9/2 Hampton (at Harrison, NJ)
9/9 at Louisiana State
9/16 Florida Memorial (NAIA)
9/23 Texas Southern*
9/30 Prairie View A&M* (at Dallas)
10/7 at Alcorn State*
10/14 Alabama A&M*
10/28 Bethune-Cookman*
11/4 at Alabama State*
11/11 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff*
11/25 Southern* (at New Orleans)
JACKSON STATE
8/26 South Carolina St. (at Atlanta)
9/3 Florida A&M* (at Miami)
9/9 at Southern
9/16 at Texas State
9/23 Bethune-Cookman*
10/7 Alabama A&M* (at Mobile)
10/14 Alabama State*
10/21 at Mississippi Valley State*
10/28 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff*
11/4 Texas Southern*
11/18 Alcorn State *
* Game against SWAC member Southern does not count as a SWAC game
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
9/2 Central State (D2) (at Chicago - Soldier Field)
9/16 at Delta State (D2)
9/23 North Carolina Central (at Indianapolis)
9/30 Florida A&M*
10/7 at Prairie View A&M*
10/14 Arkansas-Pine Bluff*
10/21 Jackson State*
10/28 at Alcorn State*
11/4 at Bethune-Cookman*
11/11 Alabama State*
11/18 at Alabama A&M*
PRAIRIE VIEW A&M
9/2 at Texas Southern*
9/9 Abilene Christian
9/16 at SMU
9/23 at Alcorn State*
9/30 Grambling State* (at Dallas)
10/7 Mississippi Valley State*
10/14 at Houston Christian
10/28 at Florida A&M*
11/4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff*
11/11 at Southern*
11/18 Alabama State
SOUTHERN
9/2 at Alabama State
9/9 Jackson State
9/16 Alabama A&M*
9/30 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff*
10/7 Florida A&M*
10/14 Lincoln, CA (D2)
10/21 at Bethune-Cookman*
10/28 Texas Southern*
11/4 at Alcorn State*
11/11 Prairie View A&M*
11/25 Grambling State* (at New Orleans)
* - Games against SWAC members Alabama State and Jackson State do not count as a SWAC game for Southern
TEXAS SOUTHERN
9/2 Prairie View A&M*
9/9 at Toledo
9/16 at Rice
9/23 at Grambling State*
9/30 Lincoln, CA (D2)
10/14 at Bethune-Cookman*
10/21 Florida A&M*
10/28 at Southern*
11/4 at Jackson State*
11/11 Alcorn State*
11/18 Arkansas-Pine Bluff*