When the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff football team secured the Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division championship on Saturday, Alabama A&M had just kicked off the game it needed to win to clinch the Eastern Division.
Alabama A&M did its part, beating Alabama State 38-14 to set up the May 1 conference title game.
Where the title game will be held is still a mystery that should be solved by the end of this week. UAPB (4-0 overall and SWAC) and Alabama A&M (4-0, 3-0 SWAC) each have one game remaining in this spring season. UAPB is scheduled to host Texas Southern, and Alabama A&M will visit Mississippi Valley State.
Golden Lions Coach Doc Gamble acknowledged Monday that the prospect of hosting a championship game is “huge,” but he isn’t overlooking Texas Southern.
“When I head into our team meeting, that’s the only thing we’re going to talk about,” Gamble said.
Both games are set for a 3 p.m. kickoff this coming Saturday. If the Golden Lions beat Texas Southern — which hasn’t played in five weeks due to covid-19 issues in other programs — and the Bulldogs lose to Valley, UAPB will host the championship game. If UAPB loses and Alabama A&M wins, the game will be played on A&M’s campus in Huntsville.
But it could take a few scenarios to determine the host if both teams win. Here’s a breakdown of the conference’s tiebreaking procedure:
• Head-to-head competition: Not applicable because the Lions and Bulldogs have not played each other.
• Overall conference record vs. common divisional and non-divisional opponents: Mississippi Valley State is the only common opponent A&M and UAPB will have played. UAPB defeated Valley 24-17 on April 3. Alabama A&M was scheduled to play Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern — UAPB just defeated Prairie View 36-31 — but those games were effectively canceled due to covid-19 issues within the Texas programs. The Bulldogs had gone four weeks without playing until defeating Jackson State 52-43 on April 10.
• Record vs. non-divisional opponents: UAPB is 1-0 in this category following the win over Valley, an Eastern Division team. Alabama A&M has not played anyone from the Western Division. It is unclear if UAPB has an advantage as a result.
• Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Ranking: Not to be confused with the STATS Perform FCS Coaches Top 25 (in which UAPB debuted at No. 24 Monday), Alabama A&M was tied for 25th in the latest coaches’ poll on April 13. UAPB received the 26th-most votes.
• NCAA FCS Simple Ratings System: The latest SRS poll was released Nov. 23, 2019.
• Best point differential between the tied teams in common head-to-head matchups: Despite some of the earlier scenarios, Alabama A&M Coach Connell Maynor believes all his team has to do is beat Valley by eight or more points to host the championship game.
• Best point differential between the tied teams in common head-to-head matchups, against teams with the best overall (divisional and non-divisional) record and proceeding through other common non-divisional teams based on their order of finish: May not be necessary, given scenario No. 6.
• Coin flip.
An email seeking further clarification on the tiebreaking procedure from the conference was not returned at press time.
“A lot of things are out of our control,” Gamble said. “We can only control what we can control. Right now, we’re going to try to take care of business this week and see what happens from there. You obviously would love to stay and be at home and do it in front of your home fans and reduce the travel.” Maynor credited the first-year head coach’s impact on UAPB’s resurgence from a 1-10 mark in 2016 followed by back-to-back 2-9 records.
“They’re excited about where they are,” Maynor said. “We’re excited where we are. We can’t look past Valley. We have to beat them by eight points to play them at home.”
Golden Lions football
(4-0 overall and SWAC) What: SWAC game and regular-season finale vs. Texas Southern (1-2 overall and SWAC) When: 3 p.m. Saturday Where: Simmons Bank Field, UAPB campus Audio/Video: KPBA-FM 99.3, UAPBLionsRoar.com and UAPB Athletics app Last meeting: UAPBLionsRoar.com and UAPB Athletics app