Coming off another winning season, Jackson State is in position to make another run Template-They claimed a dominant 2024 season in the A Championship.
But what was the team thinking about even wanting to compete in the FCS Playoffs?
Jackson State Coach TC Taylor asked during an appearance FCS EDGE With Craig Haley and Zach McKinnell.
“You know, we were talking about it yesterday as a staff,” Taylor said. “We’re kind of torn here. Some people like to celebrate and talk about being an HBCU national champion. But we also feel like we can be very competitive in the playoff race.”
Jackson State (5-1) is currently ranked He polls 14th FCS in the latest statistics and will be placed as a playoff participant.
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The staff, Taylor added, regularly examines the rosters of FCs outside of the HBCU ranks to gauge how their team stacks up.
“We evaluate every roster in the FCS,” he said. “We like how we match up against those teams. It would be a good matchup if we were in the playoffs.”
Under the current system, the SWAC champion earns an automatic berth in the celebration bowl — a structure that effectively eliminates the league’s best team from FCS playoff contention. Still, it showed that the coaching staff has prepared for both ways.
Jackson State has not appeared in the FCS Playoffs since 1997.
“It could be a situation where we lose the Alabama State game, we close the season as a two-loss team, and the playoff people (committee) have to take a good look at us,” he said. “So we’re preparing for both. Whatever comes next, we’ll be ready for it.”
Jackson State will be favored and win the regular season, which will put it in the SWAC championship game for the fourth time in the last five years.
So Taylor won’t have to worry about securing a Postseason Bid this season.
