BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — As the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel ballroom filled up for the Southwestern Athletic Conference football media day on Wednesday, the conference simultaneously unveiled its 2026 preseason poll.
The voting body of SWAC coaches and sports information directors predicted that Southern will be among the bottom tier of teams.
The Jaguars finished fifth out of six teams in the SWAC West, receiving one first-place vote.
This is a stark contrast from last year when Southern was voted the No. 1 team in the SWAC West before going 2-10 overall. The positive belief going into the 2025 season, before finishing tied for last in the SWAC, came a season after it appeared in the conference championship game in 2024.
First-year Southern coach Marshall Faulk said the preseason poll doesn’t mean much to him. The former NFL Network analyst said that he understands the purpose of polls like this.
“I used to be in the business of predictions,” the Pro Football Hall of Fame running back said. “I did that for a long time. And there were times when I was right and times I was wrong. Do I care about it? No. They have a job to do. The same way we have a job to do. My role is to make sure we do the job that we came to do.”
Standout safety Herman Brister said he doesn’t have any emotion after seeing the poll results because he remembers how last year turned out.
“That's preseason stuff,” the redshirt junior said. “That doesn't really mean anything because last year we was number one and we went 2-10, but I can tell you that it won't last long.”
Wide receiver Cam Jefferson said that his experience at Southern since 2023 has taught him how much things change positively or negatively during a season.
“You're gonna have ebbs and flows, you're gonna have highs and lows,” the redshirt junior said. “With coach (Terrence) Graves in 2024, you know we made the SWAC championship, and then last year, unfortunately, we were preseason favorites, but that ended up not happening. And then Coach Faulk came in, you know, we're on a high again like that. And we're gonna try to stay on that high.
“It's just taught me a lot about life. Like life isn't gonna go your way. Life is gonna have changes, and it's gonna throw obstacles at you, but it's how you respond to those obstacles.”
Before Southern was picked first in the SWAC West in the 2025 preseason poll, the team was voted fourth in 2024 and first in 2023 and 2022.
SWAC preseason poll
SWAC West
1. Prairie View: 130 points (19 first-place votes)
2. Grambling: 93 points (2)
3. Alcorn State: 90 points (1)
4. Texas Southern: 79 points (1)
5. Southern: 65 points (1)
6. Arkansas-Pine Bluff: 32 points
SWAC East
1. Alabama State: 131 points (16)
2. Jackson State: 122 points (7)
3. Bethune-Cookman: 71 points
4. Florida A&M: 70 points
5. Alabama A&M: 66 points (1)
6. Mississippi Valley State: 29 points