BIRMINGHAM – The Southwestern Athletic Conference Council of Presidents and Chancellors today approved the coin flip procedure for the final step of the conference’s three-team tie breaker for football.

The procedure would be put in place only if Grambling State defeats Texas Southern Thursday, Nov. 20, and loses to Southern on Saturday, Nov. 29. If that occurs, Grambling State, Prairie View A&M and Southern would finish with identical 6-1 records in SWAC play. In following the three-team tie breaker procedure, none of the previous six steps would eliminate one team from the other two.

In the three-team coin flip, three coins (one from each school) would be flipped by a school representative simultaneously. The odd coin not matching the other two coins would be eliminated. If all three coins come up as the same designation, a second coin flip would take place and would repeat until one coin comes up different from the other two within that round.

The two schools with the same coin designation would then follow the steps for the two-team tie breaker (with the first step being head-to-head competition) to determine the Western Division representative for the 2008 SWAC Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 13 in Birmingham.

If the coin flip is necessary to break the tie between the three teams, it would occur Sunday, Nov. 30 in New Orleans at a location to be announced.

WESTERN DIVISION TITLE SCENARIOS

Grambling State (8-2, 5-0) can win the division outright with:

• Victories over Texas Southern and Southern, giving the Tigers the best division record, OR
• A loss to Texas Southern and a win over Southern, which would give the Tigers the head-to-head tie breaker over both Prairie View A&M and Southern.
• A win over Texas Southern and a loss to Southern would force a three-team coin flip.

Grambling State is eliminated from division title contention with losses to both Texas Southern and Southern.

Prairie View A&M (9-1, 6-1) can win the division outright with:

• Grambling State losing its final two games to Texas Southern and Southern, which would give the Panthers the head-to-head tiebreaker over Southern.
• A Grambling State win over Texas Southern and a loss to Southern would force a three-team coin flip.

The Panthers are eliminated from division title contention if Grambling State wins its final two games over Texas Southern and Southern.

By virtue of being in conference title contention, the Panthers are not eligible for the FCS playoffs.

Southern (6-4, 5-1):

Can only win the division through a three-team coin flip.

The Jaguars must have Grambling State defeat Texas Southern AND Southern must defeat Grambling State to force the proposed three-team coin flip.

Southern is eliminated from division title contention with a loss to Grambling State.