• Columbus, OH
  • Friday, April 26, 2024
   
Our Lives. Our Stories. Our Voices.
Our Lives. Our Stories. Our Voices.
Close
 

 

HBCU Conference Realignment: Is It Time For Conference Realignment?

by NOIRE Online

April 7, 2022 876 views
 

The perfect HBCU conference is out there. This series of articles will lay out the road map to form the perfect HBCU athletic conference universe. A football conference for the South and a basketball conference for the East.  With spring football upon us, the sports staff figured, this is the perfect time to share our vision of Noire's Perfect HBCU Conference Universe.  

The SWAC

The HBCU sports universe is more exciting than ever.  The conference leading the way is the South Western Athletic Conference.  The conference with the premier programs and the most football history are all located in the SWAC.  The conference is at a place and position to become the end all, be all of the HBCU sports universe.  The conference has all of the marquee programs and coaches.  The SWAC is emerging nationally as a super conference.  It would benefit any true football school to join now and get in on the first big wave of revenue, we believe is in the works. 

In order to become the first version of a super conference the SWAC needs to bring Tennessee State University fully back to the HBCU college scene.  The SWAC then needs to bring South Carolina State University into the fold at the same time.  The move would be a win for the two schools and the conference.  The existing super-conference known as the SWAC would become bigger and better.  Tennessee State would be in a conference that actually wants them.  The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) needs TSU but doesn't really want them there.  If TSU were to join, they would be able to play games their fans have been wanting to see since the days of "Big Blue" and Coach Big John Merritt. 

If South Carolina State University would join, it would no longer be the outside child of the MEAC.  SCSU sits alone at the bottom of the MEAC map.  They would instantly rekindle old rivalries with FAMU and Bethune-Cookman.  SCSU has already begun playing more SWAC schools.  This move can be seen as a possible precursor for realignment.  The travel distances are also better.  The revenue potential is much better when they play the better football programs of the SWAC.  SCSU's victory over Jackson State in the Celebration Bowl will bring instant drama and revenue to any games in played in this new expanded SWAC.  Let's not forget SCSU has a history of big games against SWAC schools.  SCSU lost a national championship to Southern University in the 1993 Heritage Bowl.  

When you look at the Eastern side of the SWAC conference there are a lot of miles in between the schools in the east and the west.  Bringing in TSU in Nashville, TN and SCSU in Orangeburg, SC would make the travel a lot less costly to those schools. This set up allows for most travel to happen mainly on "East" or "West" sides.  This cuts down on the distance and makes the division games more important and allows fans the ability to travel the shorter distances which brings more revunue to the programs.  The proposed sides from Noireonline.com would look like the following:

SWAC EXPANSION PHASE I

West

East

Southern University

Grambling State University

Alcorn State University

Mississippi Valley State University

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Prairie View A&M

Texas Southern University

Jackson State University

Florida A&M University

Bethune-Cookman University

Alabama State University

Alabama A&M University

Tennessee State University

South Carolina State University

We added some drive times so you can how many miles will actually be saved by each school. The farthest trips would be reduced for Bethune Cookman:  585 miles Daytona Beach to Nashville compared to 868 miles Daytona Beach to Houston and 915 miles from Daytona to Prairie View.  Some other distances to consider are: Nashville to Houston 779, while Nashville to Orangeburg is 383. Jackson, MS to Orangeburg 547, Jackson to Tallassee 371, Jackson to Daytona Beach 694 are still lengthy but should be no problem for the great fan bases of these programs.  Because of the way the conference would be divided, long distance travel would not happen in most football seasons. 

Noire proposes an eight SWAC games schedule determine east and west champions.  This would allow all the games in the divisions to be played in addition to another two conference games.  A point system that takes into account points scored and points allowed would be instituted in addition to other criteria for tie-breaking.  If schools from different sides decide to play each other because of rivalry or revenue, those games would not count toward the conference record.  With the addition of Birmingham, Alabama being the conference's official "neutral site", showcase games can be held there to give schools an additional relief on their travel budgets, while getting a financial boost for participating in a showcase contest.  

This move would help the eastern side of the conference have a complete schedule in football and minimize travel.  It would cut down on the costs in other sports as well.  It would give each school enough games and matches to satisfy revenue and NCAA requirements for Title IX.  The new conference would bring two great programs into an already stellar and booming conference.  This would allow the conference brass to pitch a conference network.  That network would make for “must watch TV” in all sports.  Football Season would be the cash cow as it is in all Power Conferences. 

You would have the traditional rivals of the SWAC meeting up with their old school rivals.  It makes sense to do it now because the older fans who witnessed those old rivalries are still around.  Those fans are now retired with money to spend.  That means they have money to spend on travel and tickets to witness the rebirth of their favorite games.  Games like Tennessee State and Southern; Jackson State and Tennessee State; Grambling and South Carolina State; Grambling and Tennessee State;  FAMU and  South Carolina State; and Bethune Cookman and South Carolina State. 

The SWAC is in position to make all the right moves.  It has a dynamic leader in Dr. Charles McClelland, who has great vision.  He has already led the move for expansion once, so he is the ideal man to make this work.  The conference also boasts the most talked about football program outside of the SEC, in Jackson State University and their coach, Coach Prime.  The Coach Prime effect is already underway with programs going out and getting new and exiciting coaches.  Grambling State University has hired Hue Jackson and his wealth of NFL experience.  Southern University has brought in Coach Eric Dooley, who has won National Championships under legendary Coach Pete Richardson and at Grambling State University.  If Dr. McClelland is able to land Tennessee State University, the SWAC would have another NFL Hall of Famer leading a program, in the name of Coach Eddie George.

This new expansion could open the doors for the "END GAME", the SWAC becoming the ultimate football HBCU power conference.  

Check out next article, this weekend, to see Noire's proposal for phase two of forming the ultimate football conference.  The perfect basketball conference is coming next week!

    

 

 

 
  • Share:  
  •    
  •    
  •    
  •    
NOIRE Online
NOIRE is a new online magazine that scopes the Black and multicultural community from a cutting-edge perspective. Our mantra is “Our Lives, Our Stories, Our Voices.” Our vision is to become the leading source of true, high-quality narratives of people of color.
 

 

 

Please wait..!