Southwestern Athletic Conference

The Southwestern Athletic Conference is a 10-member collegiate athletic conference headquartered in the A. G. Gaston Building at 1527 5th Avenue North in Birmingham. The conference, which represents historically black institutions, sponsors interscholastic competition in 18 sports. The commissioner is Duer Sharp, who succeeded Robert Vowels as interim commissioner in August 2007 and was confirmed as the permanent replacement on January 2, 2008.

The conference was founded in 1920 in Houston, Texas. The original members were Bishop College, Paul Quinn College, Sam Huston College, Prairie View A&M, Texas College and Wiley College. Paul Quinn dropped out in 1929. Langston University joined in 1931, followed by Southern University in 1934 and Arkansas AM&N in 1936. The conference's annual football championship is held at Legion Field.

The next wave of changes came in the 1950s. Texas Southern joined in 1954. Bishop College left in 1956. Langston dropped out a year later. Grambling State and Jackson State joined in 1958, and Huston-Tillotson College (formerly Samuel Huston) dropped out in 1959. 1962 brought Alcorn State, but in 1968 Texas College and Wiley College left the conference while Mississippi Valley State joined. In 1970 Arkansas AM&N left. The league continued with seven member schools until the arrivals of Alabama State (1982), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (formerly Arkansas AM&N), 1997), and Alabama A&M (1999).

The conference moved its headquarters to Birmingham in 1999. The conference is a member of the NCAA's "Football Championship Subdivision" (formerly Division 1-AA), but does not participate in the annual tournament. Instead it decided to split the conference into two divisions for football and to hold its own conference championship game each December at Legion Field. (The annual "Bayou Classic" between Southern and Grambling State and "Turkey Day Classic" between Alabama State and Tuskegee University are also scheduled after the start of the FCS tournament.)

Notable SWAC athletes include Steve McNair (Alcorn State), Walter Payton (Jackson State), and Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State).

Current membership

Eastern Division

• Alabama A&M University Bulldogs (Normal)
• Alabama State University Hornets (Montgomery)
• Alcorn State University Braves (Lorman, Mississippi)
• Jackson State University Tigers (Jackson, Mississippi)
• Mississippi Valley State University Delta Devils (Itta Bena, Mississippi)

Western Division

• University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions (Pine Bluff, Arkansas)
• Grambling State University Tigers (Grambling, Louisiana)
• Prairie View A&M University Panthers (Prairie View, Texas)
• Southern University and A&M College Jaguars (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
• Texas Southern University Tigers (Houston, Texas)

References

• Perrin, Mike (January 8, 2008) "Sharp takes over with plans to keep SWAC on track." Birmingham News.

External links

• Southwestern Athletic Conference website