SWAC Football: Conference championship game is moved

Because of COVID-related cancellations this weekend, the SWAC football officials moved the game to a neutral site in Jackson, Mississippi.

The SWAC football title game’s host was the higher-ranked of the two teams playing. However, both Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Alabama A&M had games canceled due to COVID-19.

SWAC officials decided to move the game to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi, the Jackson State Tigers home.

SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClellland had this to say: 

"“The canceled games would have ultimately assisted the Conference Office in determining a host institution for the championship game using our existing hosting tiebreaker policy. Without having the ability to thoroughly evaluate both teams using that policy, we felt the only fair and equitable decision that could be made was to move the game to a neutral site location.”"

The season finales were to assist the tiebreaker process

SWAC football had a tiebreaker process being used to determine the host of the championship game. Both the Bulldogs and Golden Lions had games this weekend. However, Mississippi Valley State canceled the game with A&M, and Texas Southern canceled with UAPB.

These were the proposed scenarios (courtesy of swac.org):

If Arkansas-Pine Bluff wins its final regular-season game versus Texas Southern, and Alabama A&M loses its last regular-season game versus Mississippi Valley State, UAPB will host the championship game.

If Alabama A&M wins its final regular-season game versus Mississippi Valley State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff loses its last regular-season game versus Texas Southern, AAMU will host the championship game.

Suppose the Alabama A&M Bulldogs and Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions win their next scheduled contests versus Mississippi Valley State and Texas Southern, respectively (April 24). In that case, the league will implement its host tiebreaker policy.

SWAC Football Championship Host Tiebreaker Policy
1. Head-to-Head Competition
2. Overall conference record versus common divisional and non-divisional opponents
3. Record versus non-divisional opponents
4. Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll (FCS) ranking
5. NCAA FCS Simple Ratings System
6. Best point differential between the tied teams, common head-to-head matchups
7. Best point differential between the tied teams’ common head-to-head matchups, against teams with the best overall (divisional and non-divisional) record and proceeding through other common non-divisional teams based on their order of finish
8. Coin flip

How Jackson State got the game

Dr. McClellan intimated the idea to move the game to a neutral site game from UAPB and AAMU. The Golden Lions initially submitted the statement after Texas Southern canceled the season finale, but the idea gained traction after the Bulldogs had the same idea.

SWAC officials considered the Liberty Bowl in Memphis and Legion Field in Birmingham but chose Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson.  Jackson was the destination possibly because of its equidistance from each school.

The conference held the SWAC championship game at a neutral site from 1999-2017. In 2018, administrators decided the higher seed would be the host school for the game. If there is a bright spot, the bands for each school could be allowed to perform at the game, a first in HBCU football play this season.

The SWAC football title game is slated for May 1 at 3:00 EST on ESPN 2.