Thursday, December 1, 2016

Defending SWAC champ Alcorn State enters title game as underdog

LORMAN, Mississippi -- It was Alcorn State, not Grambling, that wrapped up its division early in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Alcorn, and not Grambling, is the two-time defending league champion.

And yet Alcorn, and not Grambling, will be the underdog when the teams meet in the SWAC championship game Saturday afternoon in Houston.



Alcorn (5-5) took advantage of a weak East Division to punch its ticket to the title game with room to spare, while Grambling (9-1) survived a three-way battle with Southern University and Prairie View to clinch the West on the final day of the regular season.

Grambling also handled Alcorn with ease when the teams played in late September, winning 43-18, and has won six of the last nine meetings between the teams. It all explains why the Tigers are the favorite this time around, and that’s just fine with Alcorn head coach Fred McNair.

“It’s best for us. I embrace anything that brings it on. It’s no big deal to me. The game has got to be played and being the underdog is not a bad thing,” McNair said during a news conference earlier this week.

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