I’m sure one day after last season ended; one thought came across the minds of all the coaches in the West division.  The east is now no push over.  The only problem with the East now is that every team got better at the same time.  During the season the teams will bang on each other trying to get to the championship game while the West’s two dominate teams Southern and Grambling easily get through the conference schedule until the Bayou Classic where they face each other.  To add to this bitter rivalry is the opportunity to play for the championship.

This year will prove to be different.  The East is better and the once laughable team, Prairie View, has improved every year and opposing teams can’t count them as win any more.  The dominate teams of last year lost a lot of players while the teams that were in the hunt but came up short have most of the starters returning.  Teams to look out for are Southern, Jackson, Alcorn, and Texas Southern.

Southern with new offense coordinator David Oliver is poised to show a fresh new offense. The offense is very similar to last years but has a big component that Mark Orlando’s offense doesn’t feature. That’s the tight end.  Coach Oliver says the tight end will have a big part in the offense this year. So expect the tight end and wide out Michael Hayes to get the bulk of the receptions. With Grambling graduating  24 players from last year’s team,  look for Southern to steal the West during the Bayou Classic. Grambling's Head coach Doug Williams has his work cut for him as he tries put together an inexperienced team. During the years Southern won Championships Head Coach Pete Richardson would get a number of transfers from Division I-A schools to fill the gaps his graduating players left.  Williams will have to do it without that.

Mark Orlando left Southern to reunite with Texas Southern Head Coach Bill Thomas to breath life into a stale offense.   Orlando will bring another school to the SWAC that runs a no-huddle offense.  The offense will either give good numbers or have lot of turnovers for the tigers. Turnovers means loses and loses may mean the firing of Bill Thomas.

Jackson and Alcorn will be the big surprise this season. Jackson returns the with best quarterback in the SWAC and maybe black college football,  Robert Kent.  If Kent keeps the interceptions down, Jackson will most certainly win the East division.

Alcorn made a great turnaround last year going from a winless season in 2000 to 6-5 in 2001.  To make things better for the braves is the fact they are returning nearly the whole team.  The entire offensive line will be back and will serve as the backbone of the team.

Who will win the SWAC? This will be the year of the Tiger. Not the Grambling State tigers but the Jackson State Tigers. Jackson will ride the on the shoulders of quarterback Robert Kent all the way to a SWAC Championship.