Bethune-Cookman enters the back half of the 2025-26 SWAC regular season in first place.
But there is also a four-way tie for second.
And a dark horse is emerging, which currently puts everything up for grabs in the final stretch.
Here is where the race stands
Why Bethune-Cookman is the favorite
Bethune-Cookman was tabbed the preseason favorite, and the Wildcats have played like it until a two-game losing streak to Alcorn State and Jackson State.
B-CU should still be considered the team most likely to win the SWAC season because the Wildcat still leads the conference — by a wide margin — in offensive and defensive rating and team net rating on the strength of Doctor Bradley, Jakobi Heady and Seneca Willoughby, who give Bethune-Cookman a proven core that can win games in a variety of ways.
Southern and Jackson State as primary challengers
Southern, picked second in the preseason poll behind Bethune-Cookman, has won four of their last five games, including victories over Jackson State, Alabama A&M and Prairie View.
The Jaguars feature first-team All-SWAC preseason guard Michael Jacobs, giving them a go-to scorer who can tilt tight February games and even in a tournament situation. If Southern can clean up late-game execution and a defense that is seventh in the SWAC, they have enough talent to overtake B-CU if the Wildcats somehow falter down the stretch.
Jackson State, slotted third in the preseason projections, is one of four teams tied for second place and is coming off an impressive 91-86 win over Bethune-Cookman.
The Tigers are powered by dynamic guard Daeshun Ruffin, who has already stacked multiple SWAC Player of the Week honors and gives JSU one of the highest ceilings in the league when he’s rolling. With a favorable remaining schedule that includes multiple games against teams currently below .500 in league play, Jackson State has a realistic path to chase down the leaders.
Florida A&M and the dark-horse pack
Florida A&M has matched Bethune-Cookman at 5–1 in the standings for the first half of conference play under first-year coach Charlie Ward before dropping five of their next six games. If the Rattlers want to stay in the race, they have to survive a remaining schedule that includes Bethune-Cookman, Southern and Grambling State.
Among those top four, Alabama A&M, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Texas Southern form a pack of teams hovering around .500 that could play spoiler or surge late if they find consistency.
Texas Southern, in particular, is currently on their annual second-half surge, having won three of four, including a comeback win over Southern.
None of those programs can be ruled out mathematically, but they likely need a multi-game winning streak plus help from the schedule to move up.
The bottom line
With roughly half the conference schedule to play, Bethune-Cookman remains the most logical pick to capture the 2025-26 SWAC regular-season title. Jackson State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Southern still profile as the most dangerous challengers on paper, while you can never count out Texas Southern.
In a league where the margins are thin, the regular-season champion is likely to be the team that best navigates the final weeks without a damaging losing streak.
