Southwestern Athletic Conference

The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a college athletic conference based in Birmingham, Alabama. It is made up of historically black universities in the Southern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I for most sports. In football, it participates in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

The SWAC is one of two conferences (the other being the Ivy League) which do not take part in postseason play in the FCS football tournament. It is the only one of the two whose members offer a full range of scholarships for football.^[1] The SWAC instead splits its schools into two divisions, and plays a conference championship game. Furthermore, one SWAC game, the Bayou Classic between Southern and Grambling State, is positioned on the schedule after the NCAA tournament has begun. In addition, Alabama State plays Division II rival Tuskegee annually on Thanksgiving Day (The Turkey Day Classic).

1. ↑ The Ivy League does not award athletic scholarships at all. Northeast Conference members are limited to 30 football scholarships, less than half the FCS scholarship limit of 63. Pioneer League members may offer scholarships in other sports, but do not award football scholarships, and do not allow athletes receiving scholarships in other sports to play football.