Jacksonville State ready to host Conference USA Football Championship Game

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (WBRC) - The Jacksonville State football team is getting ready to play for their conference championship Friday night, Dec. 6.

JSU will play Western Kentucky for the second time within a week, but this time it’s for bragging rights.

“We’re going to win, that’s it. We catch wins all the time, that’s all we do you know,” said student Anelisse Garcia.

After leaving the Ohio Valley Conference last year, students like Mekhi Anderson say this championship game is huge for the school.

“Cause you know we started off as FCS. It’s like now being a part of FBS and being able to host the C-USA Championship for the first time in school history, it’s like a major accomplishment, a milestone. It set the standard for like Jacksonville State as a team and as a school,” said Mekhi.

After losing the first three games of the season, the team won eight games in a row before finally losing to Western Kentucky by two points.

“Last year, we made history by becoming the first team in the history of the NCAA to win a bowl game in the first year of eligibility and so we’re continuing to make history by being the first team to host a Conference USA Championship game in our first year of eligibility to host that game,” said VP of Athletics Greg Seitz.

Seitz says he’s calling on Gamecock nation to help the team win the ‘ship and send the Hilltoppers back to Kentucky.

“So if we could end up winning this championship, which would be our twenty-sixth championship in our school history, would be something great for everybody to celebrate. Not only the fans but also our players, band and all of our support staff,” said Seitz.

The championship game will kickoff Friday night at 6 p.m.

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