Jackson State drops in polls despite win streak

Jackson State added to its win total and kept its win streak alive last week, but apparently, it didn’t impress some voters.

The latest American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS poll has JSU ranked 17th in the country. That is down from last week’s ranking of 16th in the country.

JSU faced a spirited fight from a Mississippi Valley football program, coming out with a 28-19 win on the road in Ita Bena, Mississippi. It was the fifth win in a row for JSU who improved to 7-1 overall. That includes a 5-0 record in SWAC play and a perfect record against non-FBS competition.

JSU’s last two opponents have been winless Bethune-Cookman and a Mississippi Valley team that, although it has been in tough games, is just 2-6. Both wins came with Gary Harrell acting as interim head coach while Deion Sander is out for medical reasons. This week’s opponent, Texas Southern, is 3-5 overall.

The best wins for Jackson State this season are its first two. Florida A&M and Tennessee State are both streaking. Alabama A&M is now back over .500.

As in previous weeks, JSU is the only SWAC and HBCU program ranked in the AFCA poll. However both Prairie View A&M and Florida A&M are in the “receiving votes” category. PVAMU is 6-1 overall and has won five games in a row heading into its matchup against Alabama State on Saturday. FAMU is 6-2 overall and also on a five-game win streak. It will travel to Baton Rouge to take on Southern University this week.