Southwestern Athletic Conference

Association	NCAA
Founded	1920; 104 years ago (1920)
Commissioner	Charles McClelland
Sports fielded	18 men's: 8 women's: 10
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FCS
No. of teams	12
Headquarters	Birmingham, Alabama
Region	Southern
Official website	www.swac.org
Locations

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The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for most sports; in football, it participates in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly referred to as Division I-AA.

The SWAC is considered the premier HBCU conference and ranks among the elite in the nation in terms of alumni affiliated with professional sports teams, particularly in football.^[1] On the gridiron, the conference has been the biggest draw on the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level of the NCAA, leading the nation in average home attendance every year except one since FCS has been in existence.^[2][3] In 1994, the SWAC fell just 40,000 fans short of becoming the first non-Football Bowl Subdivision conference to attract one million fans to its home games.

History

In 1920, athletic officials from six Texas HBCUs — C. H. Fuller of Bishop College, Red Randolph and C. H. Patterson of Paul Quinn College, E. G. Evans, H. J. Evans and H. J. Starns of Prairie View A&M, D. C. Fuller of Texas College and G. Whitte Jordan of Wiley University — met in Houston to discuss common interests. At this meeting, they agreed to form a new league, the SWAC.^{[citation needed]}

Paul Quinn became the first of the original members to withdraw from the league in 1929. When Langston University of Oklahoma was admitted into the conference two years later, it began the migration of state-supported institutions into the SWAC. Southern University entered the ranks in 1934, followed by Arkansas AM&N (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) in 1936 and Texas Southern University in 1954.^{[citation needed]}

Rapid growth in enrollment of the state-supported schools made it difficult for the church-supported schools to finance their athletics programs and one by one they fell victim to the growing prowess of the state-supported colleges. Huston–Tillotson (formerly Samuel Huston) withdrew from the conference in 1954,^[4] Bishop in 1956, and Langston in 1957—one year before the admittance of two more state-supported schools: Grambling College and Jackson State College. The enter-exit cycle continued in 1962 when Texas College withdrew,^[5] followed by the admittance of Alcorn A&M (now Alcorn State University) that same year. Wiley left in 1968, the same year Mississippi Valley State College entered. Arkansas AM&N exited in 1970 and Alabama State University entered in 1982. Arkansas–Pine Bluff (formerly Arkansas AM&N) rejoined the SWAC on July 1, 1997, regaining full-member status one year later. Alabama A&M University became the conference's tenth member when it became a full member in September 1999 after a one-year period as an affiliate SWAC member.^[6] Most of the former SWAC members that have left the conference are currently a part of the Red River Athletic Conference of the NAIA.

On 3 September 2020, the SWAC had announced that there would be a division realignment with the additions of Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University beginning with the 2021–22 academic year; which both would compete in the SWAC East, while Alcorn State would be moving to the SWAC West.^[7]

Chronological timeline

• 1920 — The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) was founded. Charter members included Bishop College, Paul Quinn College, Prairie View State Normal & Industrial College (now Prairie View A&M University), Samuel Huston College (Huston–Tillotson University), Texas College and Wiley University, effective beginning the 1920–21 academic year.
• 1929 – Paul Quinn left the SWAC, effective after the 1928–29 academic year.
• 1932 – Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now Langston University) joined the SWAC, effective in the 1932–33 academic year.
• 1935 – Southern University joined the SWAC, effective in the 1935–36 academic year.
• 1936 – Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College joined the SWAC, effective in the 1936–37 academic year.
• 1954 – Huston–Tillotson left the SWAC, effective after the 1953–54 academic year.
• 1954 – Texas Southern University joined the SWAC, effective in the 1954–55 academic year.
• 1956 – Bishop left the SWAC, effective after the 1955–56 academic year.
• 1957 – Langston left the SWAC, effective after the 1956–57 academic year.
• 1958 – Grambling College (now Grambling State University) and Jackson College for Negro Teachers (now Jackson State University) joined the SWAC, effective in the 1958–59 academic year.
• 1962 – Texas College left the SWAC, effective after the 1961–62 academic year.
• 1962 – Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Alcorn State University) joined the SWAC, effective in the 1962–63 academic year.
• 1968 – Wiley left the SWAC, effective after the 1967–68 academic year.
• 1968 – Mississippi Valley State College (now Mississippi Valley State University) joined the SWAC, effective in the 1968–69 academic year.
• 1970 – Arkansas–Pine Bluff (UAPB) left the SWAC, effective after the 1969–70 academic year.
• 1973 - Andrew "Wiggie" Brown became the first full-time Commissioner; SWAC headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana at the 1 Shell Square building.
• 1982 – Alabama State University joined the SWAC, effective in the 1982–83 academic year.
• 1997 – Arkansas–Pine Bluff (UAPB) re-joined back to the SWAC as an affiliate member, effective in the 1997–98 academic year.
• 1999 – Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University joined the SWAC, effective in the 1999–2000 academic year.
• 2021 – Bethune–Cookman University and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (Florida A&M) joined the SWAC, effective in the 2021–22 academic year.

Competitions

The SWAC is one of three FCS conferences – the others being the Ivy League and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – whose conference champion does not participate in the FCS playoffs, opting instead to play in the Celebration Bowl against the champion of the MEAC. However, SWAC teams can still be invited via an at-large invitation, as was the case in 2021 when SWAC member Florida A&M University was invited over SWAC conference football champion Jackson State, who was obligated via contract to play in the 2021 Celebration Bowl. The SWAC instead splits its schools into two divisions, and plays a conference championship game. Three of the SWAC's teams, Alabama State in the Turkey Day Classic and Grambling and Southern in the Bayou Classic, play their last games of the regular season on Thanksgiving weekend, preventing the SWAC Championship from being decided until the first weekend of December, long after the tournament is underway.

Current championship competition offered by the SWAC includes competition for men in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, indoor track, outdoor track & field and tennis. Women's competition is offered in the sports of basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, indoor track, outdoor track & field, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.^[6]

Member schools

Current full members

The SWAC currently has 12 full members, all but one are public schools:

Institution	Location	Founded	Affiliation	Enrollment	Nickname	Joined	Colors
East Division
Alabama A&M University	Huntsville, Alabama	1875	Public	6,172	Bulldogs (men's) Lady Bulldogs (women's)	1999
Alabama State University	Montgomery, Alabama	1867	Public	4,190	Hornets (men's) Lady Hornets (women's)	1982
Bethune–Cookman University	Daytona Beach, Florida	1904	United Methodist	2,901	Wildcats	2021
Florida A&M University	Tallahassee, Florida	1887	Public	9,626	Rattlers (men's) Lady Rattlers (women's)	2021
Jackson State University	Jackson, Mississippi	1877	Public	7,080	Tigers (men's) Lady Tigers (women's)	1958
Mississippi Valley State University	Itta Bena, Mississippi[a]	1950	Public	2,147	Delta Devils (men's) Devilettes (women's)	1968
West Division
Alcorn State University	Lorman, Mississippi[b]	1871	Public	3,523	Braves (men's) Lady Braves (women's)	1962
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff	Pine Bluff, Arkansas	1873	Public	2,498	Golden Lions (men's) Golden Lady Lions (women's)	1936; 1997[c]
Grambling State University	Grambling, Louisiana	1901	Public	5,438	Tigers (men's) Lady Tigers (women's)	1958
Prairie View A&M University	Prairie View, Texas	1876	Public	9,350	Panthers (men's) Lady Panthers (women's)	1920
Southern University	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	1880	Public	7,140	Jaguars (men's) Lady Jaguars (women's)	1935
Texas Southern University	Houston, Texas	1947	Public	7,524	Tigers (men's) Lady Tigers (women's)	1954

Notes

Former members

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Southwestern_Athletic_Conference
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