Deion Sanders: Jackson State ’Not Ready’ to Play School Like Alabama

As conference realignment has dominated the headlines this offseason in college football, it has also sparked conversation among HBCU programs of potentially building a super conference or potentially elevating to the FBS level.

Even with football coaches like Jackson State’s Deion Sanders discussing the possibility, the Hall of Famer still stands by his decision to not play schools like Alabama or other Power 5 programs as his team currently sits.

“We’re not into sacrificing our kids to get a check,” Sanders told WVTM-TV in Birmingham during the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s media day on Thursday. “He [Saban] got to give me another year. I got to get beef up in the front.”

Sanders also stated that the difference in between HBCU programs and those of the Power 5 rank are the “big guys in the middle,” and not the skill positions.

The Tigers went 11–2 last season, going undefeated in conference play and capturing the program’s first SWAC title since 2007. The team is projected to finish first in the SWAC East according to the league’s preseason predicted order of finish, as voted on by the league’s heads coaches and sports information directors.

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