FAMU officially a member institution of SWAC

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - After 41 years of membership with the Mideastern Athletic Conference, Florida A&M University is officially a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

FAMU voted to move from their home for over four decades to the SWAC last summer. The FAMU Board of Trustees unanimously approved the move last June.

As members of the MEAC, the Rattlers won over 110 MEAC championships, including eight football titles.

Along with the Rattlers, FAMU’s arch-rival, Bethune-Cookman, is also an official SWAC member. Former MEAC rivals North Carolina A&T are now officially members of the Big South Conference.

FAMU and BCU will compete in the SWAC’s East Division, along with Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State.

Alcorn State, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Grambling State, Prairie View A&M, Southern University and Texas Southern comprise the conference’s West Division.

FAMU is now the largest institution, by enrollment, in the conference and is one of only two schools in the MEAC to have an enrolment over 10,000 (Texas Southern).

Three sports - football, volleyball and women’s cross country - will open FAMU’s tenure as a SWAC member in the fall. Volleyball and cross country has not released their 2021 slate. The Rattlers football season will begin against new conference foe Jackson State on Sunday, September 5 in the Orange Blossom Classic in Miami.