There is not a more glaring example than the SWAC of the weakness of the APR system the NCAA uses to track academic progress. Every single year, one or more SWAC teams are banned from postseason play due to poor APR. 2014 was the low point of this ongoing crisis when four of the ten teams from the conference were banned from postseason play. The NCAA gave the SWAC a special exemption to allow all ten teams to play otherwise it would have been a six team conference tournament, which would have been a financial nightmare for a conference. As it is, the SWAC cannot afford to have three rounds of the tournament at a neutral venue, opting to play the quarterfinals at campus sites.
This year, the banned team is Alcorn State, who was also the only banned team last year as well. Since the 2014 fiasco, teams that have been banned from postseason play due to APR violations have been allowed to participate in the SWAC tournament anyway with the understanding that if the banned team won, then the runner-up would go to the NCAA Tournament. As Alcorn State finished second in the conference, this may actually come up.
Texas Southern won the conference this year by three games over Alcorn State. They have been trending as a 15 or a 16 seed, with the 15 seeds coming more as other tournaments like the Horizon were rocked by upsets.
The top eight teams made the conference tournament. The first round, as mentioned, will be on campus sites on Tuesday, March 7th while the semifinals and finals will be at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on March 10 and 11th.
Quarterfinals-Tuesday, March 7th
#8 Alabama State vs. #1 Texas Southern
#5 Grambling State vs. #4 Prairie View A&M
#7 Mississippi Valley State vs. #2 Alcorn State
#6 Jackson State vs. #3 Southern
Semifinals-Friday, March 10th
#4 Prairie View A&M vs. #1 Texas Southern
#7 Mississippi Valley State vs. #6 Jackson State
Championship-Saturday, March 11th
Texas Southern and Jackson State split the season series, with both teams winning at home. The loss at Jackson State remains the Tigers' only loss since January 23rd. It would seem more than anything that was just an off night, especially since Texas Southern romped over Jackson State by 23 earlier the season. Texas Southern will make its third NCAA Tournament appearance of the last four years.
Jackson State 55, Texas Southern 66
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