2022 SWAC Championship Preview

Jackson State and Southern are playing in the SWAC Championship Game in Mississippi. The winner will represent the conference in this year's Cricket Celebration Bowl and face MEAC Co-Champion North Carolina Central on December 17th. Southern is 11-0, Jackson State is 17.5-point favorite. The team that has won the regular season matchup has gone on to win the championship game rematch 66% of the time.

Southern and Jacksonville State are playing in the SWAC Championship Game. Southern finished the season 2-2 and averaged 19.25 points per game in their last four games. Besean McCray has completed 26 passes in his last 4 starts and hasn't thrown for more than 100 yards in a game since Oct. 22. He has rushed for 231 yards and two touchdowns on 52 carries during that span.

Jackson State started the season on fire, scoring 48 or more points in four of their first six games. The team's points per game dropped to 29.8 in their final five games, and coach Deion Sanders would like to see that explosiveness return. Jackson State's defense is the nation's fourth-best, led by All-SWAC defensive lineman Tahj Brown (6.5 Sacks), LB Jalan Campbell ( 6 sacks), and DT Ckelby Givens (5. 5 sacks).

JSU is 0-1 in SWAC title game rematches. Southern was 2-4 away from Baton Rouge this season.