When all of the games count, we will treat the former Big Three just like we treat the rest of the SWAC. But remember, it is not whether the games count in the conference standings; it is whether winning the game is necessary for us to win the SWAC East. In other words, if JSU come into Normal with losses to Bama State and Grambling, and we have no conference losses, there would be no urgency to beat JSU. JSU would be irrelevant to our championship aspirations. If JSU can beat Bama State, then beating JSU would be necessary for us to win the East. Just beat Bama State and give us a reason to beat JSU. We don't waste emotional capital on irrelevant foes; we need to save it for games that matter.
I do agree with you that Jones has had his last 8 win season. His next few seasons will have 9 or more wins plus championship wins. The fact that you realize that Jones will win more than 8 games next year is proof that you understand something about the direction of SWAC football in general and AAMU football specifically.
We would welcome Pete's and Reese's attempts to deny us a 9 win season. Just have Pete's game relevant to our winning the East. If beating him adds nothing to our championship ledger, why worry about it? We will, however, beat Reese in a irrelevant game just to atone for past engagements with Tenn. State.
Sometime, soon I hope, you will learn what MikeBiggs means when he talks about winning championships. It is not about how many times the fifty line yard is crossed, or how many passing yards are accumulated. It is not about whether fifty is scored on the opponent. It is whether you score more points than your opponent. Simply running plays is something anyone can do; it takes a special character to win games. Jones understand this. That's why AAMU wins even though it seems that every oppponent has more yardage and time of possession. JSU coaches simply ran plays; they left out the part that required the ultimate character. They didn't know how to outscore the teams against whom victory was critical.
