Jackson State will enter Saturday’s matchup against Alabama A&M as a 14-point favorite, according to the most recent betting lines.
This position is not unfamiliar to the Tigers. Aside from its Week 2 game at FBS Southern Mississippi, where it was a 12.5 underdog, JSU has won 15 of its last 18 games.
That figures to be bad news for the Bulldogs and the Tigers six remaining foes after that. Jackson State, says one college football prediction website, is slated to finish the regular season unbeaten.
Versus Sports Simulator, a data-driven sports predictions site, recently indicated that Jackson State — which ran the table in the SWAC in 2024 en route to a conference championship and HBCU national title — will do it again this season.
In fact, JSU is one of six FCS teams that Versus Sports Simulator predicted will go unbeaten the rest of the way.
Well, what are the odds that Jackson State will not be beaten?
If Jackson State (3-1 overall, 1-0 SWAC) gets by Alabama A&M, the Tigers are scheduled to face Alabama State, Grambling State, Florida A&M, Mississippi Valley State, Bethune-Cookman, and Alcorn State to wrap the regular season.
Of those opponents, which has the best chance to knock off Jackson State? Well, all signs point to Alabama State — the team that features the SWAC’s top-scoring offense at 37 points per game, led by star quarterback Andrew Body and the second-best defense (20.5 points per game) — as the biggest hurdle.
Jackson State has not lost to the Hornets since 2023 — the first year of T.C. Taylor as head coach after the Tigers lost Deion Sanders, Travis Hunter, and Shedeur Sanders and others to Colorado.
The Tigers won a hard-fought 16-10 contest at Alabama State a year ago in Montgomery. It was the smallest margin of victory Jackson State faced all season. Alabama State is a better team than a year ago (so are the Tigers), and this year’s matchup in Jackson should be another close outcome.
Can Jackson State lose to Alabama State? Sure, but the Tigers would be playing at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, a venue the JSU hasn’t lost since it fell 28-24 to Alcorn State on Nov. 18, 2023.
We consider this a win — likely a close one for the Tigers, which would extend its winning streak against HBCU opponents to 13 games.
If Alabama State can’t top Jackson State, who else could?
It doesn’t look good for an upset. Grambling State is still a mistake-riddled bunch with a quarterback in C’Zavian Teasett who struggles with recognizing and diagnosing particular defensive coverages, head coach Mickey Joseph admitted.
Florida A&M has been out of sorts all season to the point where Rattlers coach James Colzie declared coaches would spend the night inside the football building to figure out how to fix the program.
Mississippi Valley State is rebuilding again.
Bethune-Cookman, although seemingly improved, lacks the depth of the Tigers.
Alcorn State has yet to win a game.
Not exactly a murderer’s row of a schedule.
While nothing has been decided, Jackson State has no peer in the SWAC at this point and is set up to go undefeated again in the conference.
You really don’t need a computer simulator to figure that out.