Jackson Free Press

It’s the day after Christmas. All the gifts have been opened, and family is being family. What better time to find an empty room and watch football? Lucky for us all, the St. Petersburg Bowl kicks off at 10 a.m., Monday, Dec. 26, on ESPN.

This bowl game features two teams that got into the bowl picture late in very different ways. Both teams should be more than happy to be going to a bowl game, which should lead to highly motivated opponents.

Mississippi State University entered the 2016 season needing to replace the greatest player in program history, quarterback Dak Prescott, who now plays for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. MSU struggled with close losses against the University of South Alabama, Louisiana State University, Brigham Young University and the University of Kentucky, all by 13 points.

Thanks to a high APR score and a blowout win over the University of Mississippi in the Egg Bowl, the Bulldogs are playing a bowl game with a 5-7 record. It is a chance for a young team to get extra practice and build for the 2017 season.

Ohio’s Miami University, on the other hand, made NCAA history on its way to a bowl game. The RedHawks started the season 0-6, and any hope of a bowl game seemed like a distant wish.

Then, sophomore quarterback Gus Ragland returned from an offseason ACL tear and put the team on his back, carrying the RedHawks over the next six games. Miami won six straight games to finish the season 6-6 and earn bowl eligibility.

No team in the history of college football has started the season 0-6 and finished at 6-6. It was one of the most remarkable turnarounds this season and sent the RedHawks to a bowl for the first time since 2010.

MSU is making its school-record seventh consecutive bowl game. That record looked in danger before the Egg Bowl win, so there is some momentum for both teams.

The Bulldogs feature a stout rushing attack that averages 233 yards per game and is 24th in nation. Miami features the 33rd ranked rush defense, which only allows 140 yards per game.

This game will feature strength against strength, as the RedHawks’ rush defense tries to corral MSU’s rushing. Miami will focus on stopping Bulldogs quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, who rushed for 1,243 yards with 14 touchdowns, and running back Aeris Williams, who rushed for 656 yards and four touchdowns.

The RedHawks have one of the weakest rushing attacks in college football, averaging just 134 yards for 109th in the nation. MSU features a middle-of-the-road run defense that is 69th in the country and gives up 178 yards per game.

Stopping Miami for the Bulldogs begins and ends with Ragland, who has passed for 1,274 yards with 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions in six games. He is the man who makes the RedHawks’ …

R&B Fest 2...

The University of Mississippi is the highest ranked two-loss team in the nation in both polls. The team is No. 12 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll and No. 13 in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll.

Florida State, ranked No. 14 in the AP and No. 16 in the Coaches, is the next two-loss team in the rankings. The University of Oklahoma, the third best two-loss team, is ranked No. 19 in the AP and No. 20 in Coaches.

The Rebels’ road opponent this weekend, the University of Arkansas, is the last two-loss team ranked in both polls. The Razorbacks are ranked No. 22 in both the AP and Coaches polls.

Just like the Rebels, Arkansas boasts two quality losses, with defeats to the undefeated University of Alabama and Texas A&M University. UM has lost to Florida State and Alabama, with the Crimson Tide still undefeated, and FSU with loses to the University of Louisville and the University of North Carolina.

Even with the two losses, the Rebels are still alive in the SEC. UM needs to win out and have Alabama lose twice along the way.

The good news is Alabama gets the University of Tennessee and Texas A&M in back-to-back weeks. The Tide must still face Louisiana State University and an improving Auburn University in the Iron Bowl at the end of the season.

Arkansas is part of a tough three-game stretch for the Rebels. UM to LSU next and hosts Auburn to close out October.

A nearly sure win against Georgia Southern University begins Nov. 05. If the Rebels don’t stumble their way out of October, a major showdown looms on Nov. 12 against Texas A&M.

UM finishes the season at defensive-minded but offensively challenged Vanderbilt University and in the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State University. That’s a tough stretch to close the season, but every team in the SEC faces a similar stretch at this point.

Lets just hope the Rebels did a better job with their two weeks to prepare for its game against Arkansas than MSU did with its two weeks before it played Auburn. The biggest story was Rebel quarterback Chad Kelly rushing the field during his brother’s high-school game back in Buffalo, N.Y.

It should be exciting when the Razorbacks and Rebels meet up.

Last year’s score was 53-52 and included overtime, a crazy fourth-and-25 lateral and a two-point conversion for the win. These teams have a history of playing some wild games when they get together.

Recently, Arkansas has gotten the better of UM in this series. The Razorbacks have won four of the last six and seven of the last 11 meetings.

While the Razorbacks haven’t beat MSU the last four years, they have been in the heads of the Rebels, including a 30-0 victory in 2014.

Against LSU, the Rebels are 4-4 in its last eight …

The local hip-hop community has been singing the praises of "Gullah Gullah Island," the latest single from Jackson rapper Silas Stapleton, who performs as SilaS, since it began making the rounds last November. Now, having garnered attention from major national music publication Vibe, SilaS fans can expect a second wind for the song's popularity.

"Gullah Gullah Island" takes inspiration from the 1990s Nickelodeon children's show of the same name, and like the TV program, the track presents a vision of an imaginary island where black families are free to celebrate their heritage and free from systemic racism and the myriad issues that African Americans face in modern America.

Vibe's article came only a day after SilaS released his full 13-track album, "The Day I Died," which is currently available for purchase at dear-silas.com. The official release party and concert for the album is Friday, March 11, at Martin's Restaurant & Bar (214 S. State St.). For more information, find the event on Facebook.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2016/feb/18/24627/

Super Tuesday is here, with 865 pledged delegates up for grabs for the Democratic candidates and 595 available to the Republican candidates. Here's a visual guide to the states in play and the delegate counts.

Here's the Presidential Primary tracker, updated as results come in:

The JXN Trailblazers is a group dedicated to encouraging and promoting the building a multi-use trail from the Farmers' Market in downtown Jackson to the Lefleur's museum district centered at Lakeland Drive just east of I-55.

The Mississippi State women’s basketball team began the season ranked No. 10 in the nation in the Associated Press poll and No. 11 in the USA Today Coaches poll. Since the preseason rankings were released, MSU has steadily climbed in the poll with each win.

In week two of the season, the Bulldogs stayed at No. 10 in the AP poll but moved from No. 11 to No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches poll. MSU leaped to No. 7 in both polls after beating the University of Texas 79-68.

MSU outscored Texas 26-9 in the second quarter, taking control of a game where the first quarter ended with a 16-16 tie. The Bulldogs kept pace with the No. 8 ranked Longhorns for the rest of the game, but Texas outscored MSU in the second half.

That explosion in the second quarter allowed the Bulldogs to cruise to a win and up the polls. Week four of the polls saw the Bulldogs move up to No. 6 in the nation.

It looked like that ranking might take a major hit in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, which saw MSU traveled to the University of Iowa.

At halftime the sixth ranked Bulldogs were down 17 to the Hawkeyes at 43-26 and in danger of losing for the first time this season. In the second half, MSU slowly chipped away at Iowa’s lead and tightened up on defense.

The Hawkeyes were still up by 15 at the end of the third quarter even though MSU made a couple of runs in the quarter. MSU trailed by eight with three minutes left in the fourth quarter but wasn’t about let its perfect season end.

A three-pointer with 36 seconds left in the game allowed the Bulldogs to force overtime. MSU outscored Iowa 14-10 in overtime, completing the comeback victory.

MSU’s win snapped Iowa’s 96-game nonconference home winning streak and was the first time since 2012 that the Bulldogs won a game after trailing by 10 or more points at halftime. The overtime win propelled MSU to No. 5 in the country in the latest AP poll.

The Bulldogs made history by being ranked No. 5 in the nation. It’s the highest ranking the team ever achieved in program history and marks the 41st week that MSU is featured in the rankings.

The Bulldogs have three players that are averaging double-digits: Junior guard Victoria Vivians leads the way with a 14.6 points per game average; junior guard Morgan William is second with a 11.9 points per game; and junior guard Roshunda Johnson is third at 10.4 points per game.

After the comeback victory over Iowa, MSU moved to 8-0 on the season and rose up in the polls. In front of the Bulldogs are women’s basketball powerhouses, University of Connecticut at No. 1, University of Notre Dame at No. 2, Baylor University at No. …

This season isn’t what fans, players or coaches had hoped for the University of Mississippi football team. It has been a rough campaign for this team since it kicked off the season against Florida State University.

The Rebels have blown leads in the second half against FSU and the University of Alabama. The team suffered a three-game losing streak to the University of Arkansas, Louisiana State University and Auburn University.

Just as things couldn’t get worse for the Rebels, the team suffered a pyrrhic victory against Georgia Southern University. In the 37-27 comeback, UM quarterback Chad Kelly tore his ACL and lateral meniscus.

The injury will sideline the senior for the rest of this season and will have short- and long-term ramifications for the parties involved.

In the short term, the Rebels need two more wins in the last three games to become bowl eligible. Now, it seems like that mission just got even harder to accomplish.

This weekend, UM travels to Texas A&M University. The Aggies might be without their starting quarterback, as well, because Trevor Knight injured his shoulder in a loss to Mississippi State University.

Texas A&M is a better team when Knight is on the field, but his backup, Jake Hubenak, went 11 for 17 for 222 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in relief. On the other hand, UM backup Jason Pellerin went one for five, passing for 19 yards with an interception, and rushed for 29 yards on four carries.

Hubenak gets to play his first start—if he has to start—at home, and Pellerin will make the start in a hostile road environment. UM does have the option of taking the redshirt off highly touted quarterback recruit Shea Patterson.

At this point in the season, no change at quarterback is a great option. Still, the Rebels will have to make a decision quickly.

After Texas A&M, UM hits the road again to face a tough Vanderbilt University. The Commodores are in need of two wins to become bowl eligible, as well.

Of course the Rebels regular season ends at home against MSU. Both teams need two wins to get to six wins, and this game could be a winner-goes-bowling game.

In the short term, UM will struggle without Kelly but should be fine down the road with Patterson at quarterback. Getting to a bowl this season will help whoever starts at quarterback for the rest of the season with the extra practice time for the postseason game.

Long term, this injury might hurt Kelly’s draft status. The injury he suffered normally requires four to seven months of recovery time.

That means Kelly will miss any bowl game and any postseason All-Star games such as the Senior Bowl, the NFL Combine and the Rebels Pro Day. Kelly doesn’t get any more chances on film to impress scouts with his abilities.

CBSSports.com …

College football is heading into its home stretch as October fades into November. It is time once again to look into the bowl and SWAC East hopes for Mississippi teams.

This season has featured more bad than good, with just one team that has a winning record at this point in the season: the University of Southern Mississippi. At 4-3, the team comes off a bye week with a winning record.

Delta State University, at 4-4, and Alcorn State University, at 3-3, are the only teams that currently even boast a .500 record. The University of Mississippi (3-4), Jackson State University (3-4), Mississippi State University (2-5), Millsaps College (2-5), Mississippi College (2-6), Belhaven University (1-6) and Mississippi Valley State University (0-8) all have losing records.

Things aren’t looking good for the teams in our state. Time is running out for a dramatic turnaround, and for most teams, even a turnaround won’t earn them a winning season.

Even as bad as things are right now, Mississippi teams still have hopes of a bowl or SWAC Championship Game berth. Here is a quick look at those hopes for five teams.

Mississippi State is still mathematically alive to reach a bowl game. The Bulldogs should get a win this week against Samford and reach 3-5 on the season.

MSU has to be kicking itself for missing a field goal in a loss to the University of South Alabama, a late rally against Louisiana State University, an overtime loss to Brigham Young University and leaving too much time on the clock so the University of Kentucky to make a game-winning field goal.

If a few of those four losses had gone the other way, the Bulldogs would be playing for six wins this weekend or already have six wins. Discounting a blowout loss to Auburn University, MSU has four losses by a combined 13 points.

Even if they win this weekend, the trouble for the Bulldogs is finding three more wins. MSU’s schedule over the last four weeks is home games against Texas A&M University (6-1) and the University of Arkansas (5-3) with road trips to the University of Alabama (8-0) and UM in between the home games.

It seems impossible to find three more wins in those four games. MSU would have to upset three teams just to make a bowl game.

While still alive, the reality is the Bulldogs’ bowl streak ends this year. It could have gone differently for MSU, but close losses doomed this team.

The schedule looks a little better for the Rebels, even with two straight losses to Arkansas and LSU. They still have to win three more games to reach a bowl game, but they have opportunities to get there with the remaining games.

UM faces an Auburn team that has found its lost offense. The Tigers look like a tough game to win …

President Obama is expected to address the "fiscal cliff" this afternoon in the aftermath of the House's failure to pass the GOP "Plan B" proposal. The House has adjourned for the Christmas holiday.

Needing to finish the third round and start the fourth round, rain finally stayed away from the True South Classic. The tournament had been hit by rain on the first three days causing delays from the weather.

Rain and delays couldn’t slow down Scott Stallings who won shooting 24-under for the tournament. Stallings carded a 68 for 4-under in the final round, to hold off Jason Bohn who finished second at 22-under, to win by two strokes.

Stallings played solid golf all week only recording only three bogeys for the entire tournament. He didn’t even have a bogey in the second or third round to go with the four eagles he posted in the first three of rounds of play.

The solid golf Stallings played was on display at the 18th hole. Up three strokes, Stallings played smart, conservative golf hitting safely from the tee, laying up and finishing the hold with a par to keep his lead at two strokes.

Stallings earned his second PGA Tour win (he won the 2011 Greenbrier Classic in a playoff). By winning the tournament, Stallings earned $540,000 of the $3 million purse.

Billy Horschel finished in third at 20-under and Bud Cauley finished fourth at 19-under with a group of three tied for fifth at 18-under. Defending champion Chris Kirk finished tied for tenth with two other at 15-under.

Brandon native, Jonathan Randolph finished in a large group that was tied for 21st place at 12-under.

Here's a small look back of the highlights of The Beatles' first visit to the United States...

Only one men’s basketball team from Mississippi reached the postseason between the NCAA Tournament and the National Invitation Tournament: the University of Mississippi with its bid to the NIT.

Three women’s basketball teams from Mississippi are heading to the postseason. Mississippi State University, which earned a No. 2 seed in the Oklahoma City Region in the Women’s NCAA Tournament, leads them.

The team is in the midst of the best record in school history at 29-4 and broke the school record for most wins for the third straight year. The Bulldogs matched the school record for best finish in the SEC, second place, as they won a school-record 13 conference games.

The best season in school history gives MSU the right to host the first- and second-round games. If the Bulldogs advance to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, teams will play those games in Oklahoma City, and the Final Four will be in Dallas.

In the first round, MSU faces No. 15 seed, 22-10-record Troy University, which won the Sun Belt Tournament to get in the field of 64. If the Bulldogs win, they will face the winner of the game between No. 7 seed DePaul University (26-7), the regular season champion out of the Big East, and No. 10 seed University of Northern Iowa (24-11).

DePaul faces Northern Iowa at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 17, with MSU battling Troy at 1:30 p.m. Both first-round games will be on ESPN2. The winners of round one will play on Sunday, March 19, with the time and viewing platform to be announced.

Both the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Mississippi accepted at-large bids to the 64-team Women’s NIT. Both the Golden Eagles and the Rebels will host their first-round games.

USM hosts the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Wednesday, March 15, with tipoff at 6 p.m. The Golden Eagles will face the winner of the University of Alabama versus Mercer University game in the second round.

This is the Golden Eagles’ seventh trip to the WNIT in program history. The last appearance for USM happened after the 2014-2015 season.

The Rebels will host Grambling State University on Thursday, March 16, with a scheduled start of 6 p.m. UM will face the winner of the Tulane University versus the University of Texas at Arlington game.

This will be the eighth time UM earned a bid to the WNIT. The last time the Rebels were in this tournament was after the 2014-2015 season.

Second-round games of the WNIT are March 18 to March 21. Third-round games are from March 22 to March 24.

The national championship football game between Clemson University and the University of Alabama rematch on Monday, Jan. 9, lived up to the original from the year before. It had all the makings of a heavyweight fight—and without a doubt, it was a fight.

Alabama began the game on defense, pounding away at Clemson’s offense. The Crimson Tide landed shot after shot on Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson, including what looked like a blow to the head on the third play of the game.

The early knockdowns certainly had an effect on Watson, as he looked sluggish and timid early on while Alabama built a 14-0 lead that felt much larger. Clemson added to its own misery with a fumble that the Tide recovered.

Still, the Tigers found a way to keep standing round after round and drive after drive against the Tide. Clemson kept the game close with a touchdown in the second quarter to cut the Alabama lead in half at 14-7.

Alabama went for the early knockout but couldn’t finish the job on Clemson. The Tide forced another fumble in third but only got a field goal to make it 17-7 on a drive that started at the Clemson 16-yard line.

Three points were all the Tide could muster from two Clemson turnovers. Alabama couldn’t figure out a way to score points with its defense or special teams the way it had all season.

Clemson came alive in the second half with a touchdown to make it 17-14. Alabama answered right back with a quick strike to make it 24-14 late in the third quarter, but the Tigers responded with yet another touchdown to cut the Tide lead to only three points, making it 24-21 early in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers took their first lead in the game with 4:38 left to play, but they didn’t see their 28-24 lead last long as Alabama’s offense kicked back into gear after being nearly nonexistent for most of the second half.

Alabama scored with 2:07 left to lead 31-28, meaning the Tide had to put the pressure on its historically great defense to win the title. Clemson was more than happy to put its superb offense back to work, as it had found ways to tear through the Tide for most of the second half.

Watson and his teammates on offense made play after play against the Tide to keep driving down the field. Clemson scored the game-winning touchdown with one second left to finish off Alabama 35-31.

In the end, the Alabama defense had punched all it could but couldn’t land the knockout blow, and the Tide ended up staggering down the stretch. Clemson weathered the early storm to rack up 511 total yards after 34:44 in possession of the ball, 99 plays and going 7 for 18 on third down.

Even with a freshman quarterback, Jalen Hurts, Alabama …

UPDATED Jan. 14: After a national firestorm and a No. 1 trend on Twitter, Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich said the Biloxi City Council on Tuesday, the day after the holiday, should change the city’s Code of Ordinances" to reflect the official federal name of the holiday, 'Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,' commonly known as 'Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.'”

“In my opinion,” Gilich said in a statement on the city's website, “that is the appropriate step to take, for the holiday to have the same name as the federal holiday.”

The statement also conflicts with what city workers put out in social media yesterday, blaming the State of Mississippi for making the city call King Day "Great American's Day."

"The name has since been traced back to a City Council on Dec. 23, 1985 to proclaim the third Monday of every January “to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as other great Americans who have made important contributions to the birth, growth and evolution of this country.”

Presumably, among the other "great Americans" is Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who the State of Mississippi also honors the same day.

Did the State of Mississippi Rename MLK Day 'Great Americans Day'? Short answer: Not that we can figure out. The City of Biloxi apparently did rename the holiday, however, with local ordinance 15-2-2 declaring the third Monday of January as "Great American's Day. No sign of a state law, yet, however.

Still, the City of Biloxi is claiming that the State of Mississippi made 'em do it on its Facebook page (see image below), even as social media is starting to blow up nationally criticizing Biloxi, and maybe the whole state, for quietly changing the name of Martin Luther King Jr. Day to "Great Americans Day." Considering that Biloxi is the home of Jefferson Davis' museum-home, run by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, this does not completely surprise. (SCV are major opponents of changing the Mississippi flag).

The City of Biloxi posted this Friday: "Non-emergency municipal offices in Biloxi will be closed on Monday in observance of Great Americans Day, a state-named holiday.""

When challenged under the post, the unnamed Biloxi employee double-downed that this name came down from above: "The City of Biloxi did not declare nor name this holiday. The holiday was declared and named by the state Legislature. The city, in fact, as it has done for years, touted our upcoming MLK celebration in a Bmail and on the city website this afternoon."

The problem is that, so far, we have not found evidence that the state Legislature officially changed the name of the holiday, and lawmakers we've reached say they have no idea about it, either. Rep. Jay Hughes, D-Oxford, said on the Facebook page of Lea Campbell of the Mississippi Rising Coalition that the "Great Americans" name applies to a different holiday altogether: "Great Americans Day is a combination of all presidents days, …

It’s WrestleMania season and NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament time, so what better way to mark the occasion than mix the two biggest events ending in April? Plus, the NCAA and WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon are two of the most hated things in sports. If you could throw in NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, as well, it would be the most hated triumvirate in all of sports.

My bracket started like Super John Cena and didn’t lay down for anyone early Thursday, March 16. Then, little slips began to happen, like No. 12 seed Middle Tennessee State University upsetting the No. 5 seed University of Minnesota, and No. 11 seed Xavier University beating the No. 6 seed University of Maryland.

By Friday, March 17, my bracket had turned from unbeatable into the Undertaker versus Mick Foley as Mankind in Hell in the Cell at King of the Ring 1998. My bracket, playing the role of Mankind, climbed to the top of the cell just to have the tournament, playing the role of Undertaker, throw it from 20 feet in the air onto the announcer's’ table.

Friday upsets included No. 10 seed Wichita State University over the No. 7 seed University of Dayton, the No. 11 seed University of Rhode Island upsetting No. 6 seed Creighton University, and the No. 11 seed University of Southern California taking down No. 6 seed Southern Methodist University.

Just like Mrs. Foley’s baby boy, instead of going up the ramp into the back on stretcher, my bracket decided to climb back onto the cage on Saturday, March 18. Once more, my bracket played Mankind to the tournament’s Undertaker and the poor bracket got chokeslammed through the steel cage.

That exact moment is how I felt when the No. 8 seed University of Wisconsin took down defending national champions and the No. 1 seed University of Villanova on Saturday. Xavier beating No. 3 seed Florida State University seemed like getting another choke slam but this time on thumbtacks. Yes, that is exactly how the match went after Foley lost a tooth and dislocated his jaw after the choke slam from the top of the cage.

By Sunday, March 19, my bracket had turned into Ric Flair with the tournament playing Shawn Michaels from WrestleMania XXIV. The tournament delivered its first Sweet Chin Music to my bracket with the No. 7 seed University of Michigan knocking off the No. 2 seed University of Louisville.

On Sunday night, the teary-eyed tournament looked at my bracket and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry; I love you,” just like Michaels to Flair, as it hit me with a second Sweet Chin Music as the No. 7 seed University of South Carolina upended No. 2 seed Duke University.

Things could have been worse for my poor, poor bracket if not for the Montreal Screwjob that the officials did on the No. 8 seed University of Arkansas in …

The 2017 SWAC Baseball Tournament kicks off Wednesday, May 17, in New Orleans at the MLB Urban Youth Academy for the third straight year. Jackson State University is the No. 1 seed out of the East Division, and Alcorn State University is the No. 4 seed from the East.

Jackson State and Alcorn State are in opposite brackets of the double-elimination tournament. Grambling State University is the No. 1 seed out of the West Division and opens the tournament against Alcorn. GSU is opposite from JSU in the bracket.

Mississippi Valley State University failed to make the tournament, as it finished fifth in the East Division, and only the top four teams from both divisions make it in. The University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff failed to make the tournament out of the West.

JSU opens the games on Wednesday against No. 4 seed out of the West, Southern University, at 3 p.m. The Tigers own the best record in the SWAC at 36-15-1 overall and 20-4 in conference play.

Jackson State surprisingly didn’t win any individual postseason SWAC awards but did place four players on the First Team All-SWAC and one player on the Second Team All-SWAC. As a team, the Tigers have the best batting average at .322 and ERA at 3.46 in the conference.

First Team All-SWAC third baseman Jesus Santana is tied for first in the conference in home runs with nine and RBI with 62. He is fifth in the conference in doubles with 15 and total bases with 99.

Outfielder Lamar Briggs, who is second in the league in batting average with .379, first in the SWAC in hits with 77 and tied for first in doubles with 17, joins Santana on the first team. He is fourth in the conference in runs with 46, RBI with 45 and total bases with 102.

Bryce Brown joins Briggs as first-team outfielder and is third in the SWAC in batting average with a .368. Starting pitcher Miguel Yrigoyen is the final Tiger to make the first team All-SWAC. He is 9-2 in 12 appearances this season with a 2.93 ERA and 62 strikeouts.

Outfielder C.J. Newsome is the lone JSU player on the second-team All-SWAC. He is eighth in the conference in batting average with a .342 average, second in triples with 5 and third in stolen bases with 23.

Southern placed one player on the second-team All-SWAC in designated hitter John Pope. The Jaguars enter the tournament with a 16-25 overall record and 10-14 conference record. SU is seventh in the SWAC in team batting average at .253 and third in team ERA at 5.72.

JSU will face either the No. 2 seed out of the West, Texas Southern University, or the No. 3 seed out of the East, Alabama A&M University, on the second day. The games on day two start at 9 a.m. with the loser of the