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.
Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium has been the home stadium of the Jackson State Tigers football team since 1970. Originally known as War Veterans Memorial Stadium, it was later known as Hinds County War Memorial Stadium. It was redesigned and enlarged in 1960 and Ole Miss vs. Arkansas dedicated Mississippi Memorial Stadium in 1961 before a capacity crowd of 46,000. With political support from Ole Miss and Mississippi State and leadership from Ole Miss Athletics Director Warner Alford, Mississippi Memorial Stadium was enlarged to 62,500 in 1981 and on September 26, 1981 Ole Miss and Arkansas again dedicated the facility before 63,522.
The Alcorn State Braves are the college football team of Alcorn State University. The Braves play in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
The SWAC Championship Game, officially the Cricket Wireless SWAC Championship Game, is an American college football game that is held annually on the first Saturday in December by the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to determine its football champion. The game pits the champion of the Eastern Division against the champion of the Western Division in a game that follows the conclusion of the regular season. From 2015 onward, the winner of the game has represented the SWAC in the Celebration Bowl. Currently, it is the only conference championship game conducted at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. As of the 2019 season, the game is sponsored by Cricket Wireless.
The 2012 Alcorn State Braves football team represented Alcorn State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Braves were led by first-year head coach Jay Hopson, and played their home games at Casem-Spinks Stadium. Hopson is the first non-black head coach to coach at a historically black university in either the MEAC or SWAC. They were a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and finished the season with an overall record of four wins and seven losses.
The 2013 Alcorn State Braves football team represented Alcorn State University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Braves were led by second year head coach Jay Hopson and played their home games at Casem-Spinks Stadium. They are a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). The Braves finished the season with a 9–3 record.
The 2014 Alcorn State Braves football team represented Alcorn State University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Braves were led by third year head coach Jay Hopson and played their home games at Casem-Spinks Stadium. They were a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and finished with a record of 10–3 and as SWAC champions after they defeated Southern in the SWAC Championship Game.
The 2015 Alcorn State Braves football team represented Alcorn State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Braves were led by fourth-year head coach Jay Hopson and played their home games at Casem-Spinks Stadium. They were a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and finished with a record of 9–4 as SWAC champions after they defeated Grambling State in the SWAC Championship Game. Alcorn State then played in the Celebration Bowl against North Carolina A&T, losing by a score of 41–34.
The 2015 Celebration Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 19, 2015 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. The inaugural Celebration Bowl game pitted the North Carolina A&T Aggies, co-champion of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, against the Alcorn State Braves, champion of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The event was the finale of the 2015 FCS football season for both conferences as their champions abstained from the NCAA Division I FCS football playoffs.
The 2016 Alcorn State Braves football team represented Alcorn State University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Braves were led by first-year head coach Fred McNair and played their home games at Casem-Spinks Stadium. They were a member of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and finished with a record of 5–6 as SWAC runners-up after they were defeated by Grambling State in the SWAC Championship Game.
The 2016 Conference USA football season was the 21st season of Conference USA football and part of the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on September 1 with Charlotte facing Louisville. This season was the second season for the C-USA under realignment that took place in 2014, which added the 14th member Charlotte from the Atlantic 10 Conference. The C-USA is a "Group of Five" conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the American Athletic Conference, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference.
The 2017 FIU Panthers football team represented Florida International University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Panthers played their home games at the Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Florida as members of the East Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by first-year head coach Butch Davis. The Panthers finished the season 8–5, 5–3 in C-USA play to finish in second place in the East Division. They received an invitation to the Gasparilla Bowl where they lost to Temple.
The 2017 Conference USA football season was the 22nd season of Conference USA football and part of the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on August 26 with Rice facing Stanford in Sydney, Australia. This season was the third season for C-USA under realignment that took place in 2014, which added the 14th member Charlotte from the Atlantic 10 Conference. C-USA is a "Group of Five" conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the American Athletic Conference, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference.
The 2017–18 Alcorn State Braves basketball team represented Alcorn State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves, led by third-year head coach Montez Robinson, played their home games at the Davey Whitney Complex in Lorman, Mississippi as members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 11–21, 7–11 in SWAC play to finish in eighth place. Due to Grambling State's ineligibility, they received the No. 7 seed in the SWAC tournament where they lost in the quarterfinals to Prairie View A&M.
The 2018 Alcorn State Braves football team represented Alcorn State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Braves were led by third-year head coach Fred McNair and played their home games at Casem-Spinks Stadium. They were members of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
The 2018 Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 15, 2018, with kickoff at 12:00 p.m. EST. It was the first game of the 2018–19 bowl season, and the only bowl to feature FCS teams. It was the fourth edition of the Celebration Bowl and the final game of the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season for the participating teams. The Air Force Reserve resumed its role as the title sponsor after a one-year absence.
The 2019 Alcorn State Braves football team represented Alcorn State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Braves were led by fourth-year head coach Fred McNair and played their home games at Casem-Spinks Stadium. They were members of the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
The 2021 Alcorn State Braves football team represented Alcorn State University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Braves played their home games at Casem-Spinks Stadium in Lorman, Mississippi, and competed in the West Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). They were led by fifth-year head coach Fred McNair.
The 2002 SWAC men's basketball tournament was held March 5–9, 2002, at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Alcorn State defeated Alabama State, 70–67 in the championship game. The Braves received the conference's automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA tournament as one of two No. 16 seeds in the East Region. In the play-in game, Alcorn State was beaten by Siena.
The 2009 Alcorn State Braves football team represented Alcorn State University as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) during the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Earnest Collins Jr., the Braves compiled an overall record of 3–6–1, with a conference record of 3–4–1, and finished tied for second in the SWAC East Division.
