Jackson State head coach T.C. Taylor heard the noise. HBCU fans, bloggers, and message board types have been griping about the Tigers’ 2026 nonconference schedule, wondering why it doesn’t include more FCS opponents outside the HBCU world. Taylor’s response on KC-1400 Media with Ken Clark was about as direct as it gets.
He doesn’t care.
“All the opponents that are on there that matter for us to get to the Celebration Bowl, to win the East, to get to the SWAC Championship, they’re on there. Period. They’re on there,” Taylor said.
Jackson State opens 2026 with an HBCU-heavy run. The Tigers face Tennessee State in Nashville for the John Merritt Classic, then play SIAC opponents Edward Waters and Tuskegee before SWAC play starts. That’s the schedule. And Taylor wants to know why everyone is suddenly obsessed with strength of schedule when the SWAC and MEAC don’t get an automatic FCS playoff bid anyway.
“It’s just funny to me now all of a sudden they dropped this strength of schedule, but we’re not even eligible to get to the FCS playoff,” Taylor said. “So what makes the strength of schedule? How do you gauge that?”
It’s a fair point. The SWAC’s postseason structure sends its champion to the Celebration Bowl, not the FCS bracket. So arguing about whether Jackson State’s nonconference slate is tough enough for a playoff run they can’t access doesn’t really land.
Taylor also brought up the physical cost of scheduling up. Jackson State has played FBS programs in recent years, and the results were expensive in a different way.
“We lost a lot of guys to those teams injury-wise,” Taylor said. “We had four or five, six guys got hurt last year that we lost throughout the year. What are we gaining at that point?”
Instead of chasing FBS paydays that leave the roster banged up, Taylor sees the nonconference portion as a chance for Division II programs to get a game they wouldn’t normally get. He pointed out that plenty of teams at Jackson State’s level schedule D-II schools anyway, and those smaller programs want the shot.
“Those Division II schools want an opportunity to do what is what: play up as well,” Taylor said. “There are some coaches that want to get an opportunity to go against us as programs because they look at us as the big boys. How do you gauge it and say what’s weaker and what’s not? I don’t get that part.”
So Jackson State’s 2026 schedule is set. The critics can keep talking. Taylor seems fine with that.
Leave a Comment