bernard
THEE Realist
Conference football programs will only play seven league games instead of nine, opening up two new dates.
Daniel Paulling, The Clarion-Ledger
Athletic directors across the SWAC still appear to be in scramble mode.
The conference plans to switch from the current round-robin format of nine league games to seven starting with the 2017 season, a decision that came in May of last year. The change leaves SWAC teams struggling to find two more non conference opponents on short notice.
“I think the biggest thing you see in Year 1 is it might be a scramble because everybody’s already gone three to five years out (in setting up their schedules),” Alcorn State athletic director Derek Horne said. “You have to be very aggressive in how you move toward it.”
SWAC teams will play a designated rival and two rotating home and home games with opponents from the opposite division in addition to their current four games in their division.
The SWAC has bounced between a seven- and nine-game conference schedule since expanding to 10 teams in 1999. Conference programs played seven league games from 2000-04 and 2008-09 before switching to the current format in 2010.
The latest change leaves Jackson State athletic director Wheeler Brown seeking a philosophy on how he wants to fill those two empty spots on the Tigers’ schedule next season.
The Tigers plan to continue the Southern Heritage Classic against Tennessee State, a rivalry game played each year at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Brown said he’s also been in touch with Florida A&M, which Jackson State owes a road game, and other MEAC programs, but he doesn’t want to limit himself when it comes to looking for opponents.
“We would also want to look at how many other FCS schools that are in our geographic footprint so to speak academically or otherwise and not just relegate ourselves to schedule an HBCU opponent,” Brown said.
Horne said a lot of factors come into play in his decision-making process when trying to schedule non conference opponents for Alcorn State.
SWAC teams scrambling after scheduling rule change
Daniel Paulling, The Clarion-Ledger
Athletic directors across the SWAC still appear to be in scramble mode.
The conference plans to switch from the current round-robin format of nine league games to seven starting with the 2017 season, a decision that came in May of last year. The change leaves SWAC teams struggling to find two more non conference opponents on short notice.
“I think the biggest thing you see in Year 1 is it might be a scramble because everybody’s already gone three to five years out (in setting up their schedules),” Alcorn State athletic director Derek Horne said. “You have to be very aggressive in how you move toward it.”
SWAC teams will play a designated rival and two rotating home and home games with opponents from the opposite division in addition to their current four games in their division.
The SWAC has bounced between a seven- and nine-game conference schedule since expanding to 10 teams in 1999. Conference programs played seven league games from 2000-04 and 2008-09 before switching to the current format in 2010.
The latest change leaves Jackson State athletic director Wheeler Brown seeking a philosophy on how he wants to fill those two empty spots on the Tigers’ schedule next season.
The Tigers plan to continue the Southern Heritage Classic against Tennessee State, a rivalry game played each year at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Brown said he’s also been in touch with Florida A&M, which Jackson State owes a road game, and other MEAC programs, but he doesn’t want to limit himself when it comes to looking for opponents.
“We would also want to look at how many other FCS schools that are in our geographic footprint so to speak academically or otherwise and not just relegate ourselves to schedule an HBCU opponent,” Brown said.
Horne said a lot of factors come into play in his decision-making process when trying to schedule non conference opponents for Alcorn State.
SWAC teams scrambling after scheduling rule change