FCS CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

SWAC

#15 overall#4 in FCSRR50 -2.5Upper strength -0.212 teamsTop 25 teams 0

HOPE-DOPING · 2026

The Celebration

The SWAC and MEAC champions meet every December in Atlanta for the Celebration Bowl — an HBCU national championship game that routinely draws 40,000+ fans and national broadcast attention that the bracket path alone could not generate. The MEAC leads the all-time series 7–3. Deion Sanders rebuilt Jackson State into a recruiting magnet before leaving for Colorado, but the talent pipeline he opened did not close with him.

After Deion's departure, which program fills the SWAC's national-media spotlight, and can Jackson State sustain the recruiting standards he set?

FCS12 teamsRace: Celebration Bowl

SWAC · Where They Stand · 2026

Power Map

FCS power landscape heading into 2026. Bracket implications begin Week 10.

Favorites
Prairie View A&M+1.8—Jackson State+1.5—
Challengers
Alabama State+1.0—Alcorn State-1.9—Grambling-2.2—Bethune-Cookman-2.3—
The Field
Alabama A&M-2.8—Florida A&M-3.1—Southern-3.5—Texas Southern-3.8—
Rebuilding
Arkansas-Pine Bluff-5.9—Mississippi Valley State-6.4—

SWAC · 2026 Season Preview

Three Things to Watch

The LegacyJackson State After Prime Time

Deion Sanders built Jackson State from obscurity into a national recruiting story — five-star players choosing an HBCU over Power Four offers, NFL Draft picks coming from Sonic Boom of the South, a program on ESPN every week. He left for Colorado after 2022. What remained was a roster, a recruiting infrastructure, and a fanbase that now expects more than the SWAC used to expect. That expectation is the program's biggest asset and its most complicated inheritance.

The RivalGrambling and Southern: The Southwest Classic

Grambling State and Southern University play the Bayou Classic every November in the Superdome — an HBCU game that routinely sells out 70,000 seats. Both programs have NFL Hall of Famers in their lineage, national championship banners from the SWAC's dominant eras, and band traditions that rival any program in college football. The Bayou Classic predates ESPN. It will outlast it too.

The Stage

The Celebration Bowl: Atlanta in December

The SWAC champion plays the MEAC champion in Atlanta every December — 40,000+ fans, national television, the de facto HBCU national championship game. The MEAC leads the all-time series, but the SWAC's recruiting depth gives them the advantage when both conferences are at full strength. Every SWAC season is ultimately about earning the right to be in that December game and winning it.

Conference Standings · SWAC · 2026

Standings

# Team Conf Overall Pwr Last 5
1Prairie View A&M0–00–0+1.8—
2Jackson State0–00–0+1.5—
3Alabama State0–00–0+1.0—
4Alcorn State0–00–0-1.9—
5Grambling0–00–0-2.2—
6Bethune-Cookman0–00–0-2.3—
7Alabama A&M0–00–0-2.8—
8Florida A&M0–00–0-3.1—
9Southern0–00–0-3.5—
10Texas Southern0–00–0-3.8—
11Arkansas-Pine Bluff0–00–0-5.9—
12Mississippi Valley State0–00–0-6.4—

Conference record determines standing. Power = neutral-field pts vs. all-level average. Last 5 = most recent game results.

Conference Power · FCS

Where We Stand

# Conference Avg Power vs Focal Top Team
1MVFC
-1.7
—South Dakota State
2UAC
-2.2
—Tarleton State
3Big Sky
-2.2
—Montana State
4SWACYou are here
-2.5
—Prairie View A&M
5Southland
-2.7
—Stephen F. Austin
6Southern
-3.0
—Tennessee Tech
7MEAC
-3.0
—South Carolina State
8Patriot
-3.3
—Villanova
9CAA
-3.4
—Rhode Island
10Pioneer
-3.4
—San Diego
11Big South-OVC
-3.6
—UT Martin
12NEC
-3.6
—Long Island University

Round-robin power = strength of schedule-adjusted conference average, points vs. all-level average team. Record = SWAC's record vs. that conference across all games this season.

The SWAC and MEAC champions meet every December in Atlanta for the Celebration Bowl — an HBCU national championship game that routinely draws 40,000+ fans and national broadcast attention that the bracket path alone could not generate. The MEAC leads the all-time series 7–3. Deion Sanders rebuilt Jackson State into a recruiting magnet before leaving for Colorado, but the talent pipeline he opened did not close with him.

Conference Snapshot

RR50-2.5
Upper Strength-0.2
Median Power-2.7
Resume Pulse38.0
Avg ATS--
Wins vs Market+0.00
Top-to-Middle Gap4.4
Combined Record0-0

`RR50`, `Upper Strength`, and `Median Power` are shown on the same public power scale as the rest of the site: points on a neutral field versus the average all-level NCAA team. Very small affiliations are gently regressed toward their subdivision baseline so a one-team outlier does not hijack the entire conference board.

SWAC Team Board

The league stack, sorted by predictive strength. Power is shown as neutral-field points versus the all-level average team, while resume is shown on a 0-100 season score.

Rank Team Record Power Resume ATS Wins vs Market Recent Form
#110 Prairie View A&M 0-0 +1.8 62 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#117 Jackson State 0-0 +1.5 60 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#127 Alabama State 0-0 +1.0 56 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#169 Alcorn State 0-0 -1.9 42 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#173 Grambling 0-0 -2.2 40 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#175 Bethune-Cookman 0-0 -2.3 40 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#190 Alabama A&M 0-0 -2.8 35 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#193 Florida A&M 0-0 -3.1 34 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#204 Southern 0-0 -3.5 30 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#213 Texas Southern 0-0 -3.8 27 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#243 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0-0 -5.9 16 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#247 Mississippi Valley State 0-0 -6.4 15 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.

Active arcs our read

Developing6wk ago
Kendrick Perkins joins Jackson State as men's basketball general manager

How will Kendrick Perkins's role impact Jackson State's men's basketball program?

Jackson State
All arcs →