Tremaine Jackson sounds off on SWAC out-of-conference scheduling

Prairie View A&M coach Tremaine Jackson is never one to mince words, and he recently sounded off on the SWAC’s new scheduling change that will impact early-season matchups.

SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland recently announced that the conference is eliminating matchups against non-NCAA Division I and Division II opponents starting in 2027. In a recent media availability, Jackson indicated that he believes that the move is right.

“I think the league is five years behind. I think the league should have did that five years ago. You want to always be reputable. I get mad when I see things about rankings of FCS conferences and we’re 10th of 13th. I think we have something to do with that and I’m not knocking anybody. I think we just got to make sure we’re always putting ourselves on the cutting edge and not just doing what we’ve always done.”

He added, “If we’re a Division I conference, then we need to play Division I people. It just is what it is. When I was in Division II, we played Division II people. And so I think if you look at our schedule like you and I talked before, you see how we feel. We play 12 Division I games and one of those is an FBS game. We’re going to always do that.”

Many FCS HBCU programs typically face Division II and NAIA opponents in the early weeks of the season. For the SWAC, Arkansas Baptist College, Virginia University of Lynchburg, and Louisiana Christian University are the only non-NCAA squads that SWAC member institutions will be facing in the upcoming year.

The move starting in 2027 will ultimately lead to interesting early-season matchups, potentially against other competitive FCS programs. Prairie View A&M’s out-of-conference slate, following their victory in the Labor Day Classic over Texas Southern, consisted of University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Rice, and Northwestern State. For Homecoming, they faced Lincoln University of California, beating them 38-0.

The Panthers’ 2026 slate features matchups against Tarleton State, Baylor, and Stephen F. Austin, with an October 24 trip to East Texas A&M.

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