Give Us the Clout; the Slow Ascension of the SWAC

There are certain factors that go into certain programs and conferences being regarded as storied, or in some cases, legend. These factors include a variety of qualities, including but not limited to legacy, consistency, and competitiveness. Looking at the quality of the talent and teams fielded by the Southwestern Athletic Conference, it seems to me that we have overqualified on all accounts.
We live in a world where everything Black is slowly but surely being commoditized by the systems that be, and collegiate sports are no different. The Black student athlete is given more autonomy as a brand now more than ever before, and through this branding, the corporate agenda is slowly but surely seeping its way into the soil of the SWAC.
When you combine the image of Blackness that is now given face value admiration throughout media circles with electrifying talent and intense competition, you have something that the powers that be can market and sell. This of course brings in revenue to all parties involved however, but it gives the SWAC a platform that’s unmatched in our conference’s iconic history.
Over this past season, you can see the marketability of the SWACs name and likeness on ESPN ad pages and college football television packages, but more importantly, you’re seeing SWAC teams playing on a national stage in numbers never before seen. Over the past year in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder trial, mainstream America became exposed to Black culture at unprecedented rates. With attention being brought to Black causes by trailblazers such as the NBA and its many stars, it was only a matter of time until the networks followed suit. And follow suit they did.
HBCU games across the board have been appearing on major networks since the start of this current sports season, a part of the push by the NBA stars and ESPN leadership to spotlight talent found on HBCU campuses in all different sports.
So the question is; will this prestigious rise be all that it’s proven to be so far, and will Black voices and talent be put amidst the upper tiers of national attention for years to come, or is it simply a lightshow? Could it be performative activism on part of the corporations as a means of supplying the black consumer base? Could it be insincere?
The answer is yes, it definitely could be all of these things. We could be being used as a tool in the schemes of corporate entities, with the star of our great conference only reaching a brief apex as the issues that plague us as a society still linger in our collective subconscious. And yet, I’d like to believe otherwise.
I’d like to believe that Black academia is reaching a height that their founders had dreamt for them by way of the opportunity and exposure that corporate America is providing to our universities. I’d also like to believe that this will only be the start of something grand, something that sees a SWAC midday contest as the prime time game of the week that’s not the Bayou Classic or Southern v Jackson State, regardless of how we all may love SU vs J-State.
If I believed that, then I would make a number of claims about the Southwestern Athletics Conference, all of which boast of our future and potential to accomplish great things neve before seen. I would claim that a new sun may have risen on the SWAC. And yet, I can’t be sure.
What I am sure of however is that we are holding up our end of the bargain. We have fielded some of the most talented teams that black college sports have ever seen, and we’re only projected to improve. Regardless of how the masses view us or how much clout is bestowed upon our names, the strongest bond that we have is the one shared between us, and should that bond be maintained, then so too will the future greatness of the SWAC.