Saturday, September 25, 2010

State Fair Classic is SWAC predictor


The official SWAC Championship is played in Birmingham in December. But the State Fair Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas might be the conference's true championship game.

The winner of the annual matchup between Grambling State and Prairie View A&M has gone on to win the SWAC's Western Division — and eventually, the conference championship — in each of the past two seasons. The loser has had to play out the rest of its season, fruitlessly hoping the other team will slip up and provide a path to the championship game.

Do-or-die game faces Prairie View at Cotton Bowl

Prairie View A&M coach Henry Frazier III hardly knew what to say when addressing his team in a huddle after last weekend's 18-15 loss to Alabama State at Blackshear Stadium. The Panthers had just seen their nine-game home winning streak snapped. Their 15-game winning streak against Southwestern Athletic Conference opponents also went up in smoke. For Frazier, it was unfamiliar territory.

"It was hard to accept," Frazier said. "A part of me was like, 'Damn, we lost. What do I say?' I had to question myself (to see) if I was cut out to coach because I can't accept ...

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