SWAC suffers through dismal non-conference schedule

[TexasTerror]

From what I am reading on TSPN, this pretty much sums up the problems the SWAC has been having this year. Not sure what the answer is for the SWAC, but this conference has not put the results on the field this year in OOC play. Time to learn how the league can improve...

SWAC suffers through dismal non-conference schedule
Tuesday, September 16, 2008

For the most part, nonconference warm-ups are done for the 10 teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Now, thank goodness, they start playing teams they can beat.

This has not been a good year for football in the SWAC. So far, the league is 4-17 in nonconference games and all four wins were against Division II or NAIA schools - thank you, Texas College.

Troy's 65-0 win over Alcorn State on Saturday was one of 12 games decided thus far by more than three touchdowns and five were losses by at least 30 points.

http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/mperrin.ssf?/base/sports/1221552905282610.xml&coll=2

[TexasTerror]

This is a problem...


The good news for Coleman’s team is none of the three losses matter that much. UAPB’s goal all season has been to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference western division and make a trip to the conference championship game, as it did in 2006.

So the Golden Lions season hasn’t been ruined yet, and it won’t be on Thursday when they play fellow Southwest Athletic Conference team Alcorn State in a game that does not count toward either team’s conference record.

http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/2008/09/16/sports/sports2.txt

[JohnStOnge]

I think think there's something to the statement in the first article about the effect of having so many I-AAs in this region go I-A affecting I-AA football. I think teams like Troy, Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Arkansas State, and North Texas are almost entirely made up of players that would be FCS players under circumstances as they were 20 or 25 years ago. I think it's hurt the quality of I-AA/FCS football in this region.

[TexasTerror]

I think think there's something to the statement in the first article about the effect of having so many I-AAs in this region go I-A affecting I-AA football. I think teams like Troy, Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Arkansas State, and North Texas are almost entirely made up of players that would be FCS players under circumstances as they were 20 or 25 years ago. I think it's hurt the quality of I-AA/FCS football in this region.

Good point...and the addition of new football schools in the region in addition to the influx of schools from all over the country coming into the region that were never here before.

This is a hotbed of talent and with deeper pockets, more ways to communicate, etc -- the talent that found it's way to the SWAC in particular for this case and also to the SLC has found other places to go...

[SU Jag]

You're right Texas tuck! UAPB has been horrible, Texas Southern put on a terrible showing at Arkansas State and I dont know wtf happened to us in Houston. Hopefully ASU will beat UAB this Saturday.

[TexasTerror]

You're right Texas tuck! UAPB has been horrible, Texas Southern put on a terrible showing at Arkansas State and I dont know wtf happened to us in Houston. Hopefully ASU will beat UAB this Saturday.

Forgot Tennessee State's unblemished record against the SWAC...that was not the case a year ago. This year is rock bottom for the league in football, just like it was a year ago in basketball (when the SWAC posted the worst Div I OOC record in NCAA history). Perhaps both featured sports just needed to hit rock bottom before they climbed their way out...???

[Retro]

Any FCS team that get's beat by 65+ points to a sun belt team needs to take a long hard look at their programs direction.. I know Arkansas state and Troy seem to be very good SBC teams this year, but over the past several years none of swac teams have shown any progress in equaling the quality of football with the rest of the FCS... There have also been several losses to mediocre lower division teams that amplify the problem..

We've discussed it here numerous times, but they lack quality of overall talent in recent years from a team standpoint.. Players want to play for a team that has a chance to win a championship, conference and national... I believe that's where they are losing the recruiting battle all other things being equal.. Yes, i know the swac has had a few big name players in the NFL, but the overall talent on these teams is weak compared to all other scholarship FCS teams.. It's apparent on the field againest FBS and FCS OOC teams.. If that's not it, then the coaching is the worst in history.


I really thought Bobby Reid would play better than he has at TSU, but apparently they got nothing with or without him.

[Sonic98]

Forgot Tennessee State's unblemished record against the SWAC...that was not the case a year ago. This year is rock bottom for the league in football, just like it was a year ago in basketball (when the SWAC posted the worst Div I OOC record in NCAA history). Perhaps both featured sports just needed to hit rock bottom before they climbed their way out...???

I've never seen JSU play as bad a game as they did against TnSU this past weekend. It wasn't long ago that teams in The SWAC dominated TnSU and a couple other FCS teams.

I think one problem is not only a drop in talent but the recycling of coaches or the small-mindedness of AD's when looking for coaches. For instance I look at my school, JAckson State. WHen we were looking for a new coach a few years ago, there were coaches out there, including some from the JSU family tree who coached in the SWAC, some upper level FCS schools, FBS, and even the NFL for 1 or 2 of them. Some of them were begging to be interviewed for the job at JSU. Instead the AD hired a buddy of his James Bell. The game thing happened when Bell was fired, and they hired a coach from D-2, though it was a coach whose D-2 team had beaten a couple FCS teams. They just need to stop hiring the same coaches, with the same experience, who recruit against the same schools, and who recruit in the same places.


The problem is that there are two many coachs, AD's, and conference officials in place who only care about beating other teams in the conference. If TnSU can become competitive against the teams in it's conference every school in the SWAC can. Heck some of these have stolen recruits from FBS programs. They have the ability to get talent if they want. Maybe if you put FCS teams on your schedule other than MEAC schools and stop playing these D-2s and D-3s, you can get in front of a different set of fans and recruit in some areas you never thought about before.

[Sonic98]

And on the point of other sports, if other small schools can play well in the NCAA basketball tournament, the SWAC can too. Even some of the bigger teams that do well are not exactly powerhouses in FBS football. If teams from some of the lower and non-BCS conferences can have teams that do well in other sports, the SWAC and MEAC can too. The problem is the same as in football. Get better coaches who have the record and clout to bring in better players.

There is no excuse in football for not at least being able to beat the MEAC teams more consistently. A big problem I see is this whole setup with the SWAC championship game and the Bayou Classic (SU vs GSU). We have very rarely sent the best team in the conference to the playoffs, so people never care about being competitive against the rest of FCS.