SWAC title game back in Alabama
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama State coach Donald Hill-Eley found out the Southwestern Athletic Conference was bringing its once-endangered championship game back to the state of Alabama from a reliable source — his wife.
"I found out like everyone else when the official announcement came out," Hill-Eley said. "My wife called and said, 'Hey, they've got the championship in Birmingham.'"
It is big news for the SWAC, which a year ago was saying the 2017 league championship game would be the last due to financial reasons, citing dwindling attendance at Houston's NRG Stadium.
The league announced a one-year deal to play at Birmingham's Legion Field on the eve of Friday's media day, returning to the venue where it was held for the first 13 years starting in 1999. The SWAC, which is based in Birmingham, will also play its men's and women's conference tournaments in its home city next March.
The possibility of reviving the championship game gained traction after Commissioner Duer Sharp's resignation was announced on Dec. 31. The league looked at neutral sites and holding the game on-campus with a move from Houston, where it drew fewer than 25,000 fans each of the past two years.
Interim Commissioner
Edgar Gantt said the SWAC's Council of Presidents and Chancellors made the final decision. Gantt declined to discuss the game's future beyond the one scheduled for Dec. 1.
"This year is really looked at from a re-assessing standpoint, so I don't want to comment on anything outside of that," he said.
"But the SWAC championship game does play a major part of who we are from a core standpoint and the fabric of our league. I can't speak to the future but I know that it's a major part of our plan."
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said the city is "100 percent" hoping to hold onto the game beyond this season.
Sharp had said last year that the league would determine its champion and send that team to play in the Celebration Bowl against the winner of the MidEastern Athletic Conference.
Gantt said the SWAC remains committed to the Atlanta bowl game.