What can national exposure do for Alabama State football in 2026?
· Yahoo Sports
BIRMINGHAM — When it comes to Alabama State football, coach Eddie Robinson Jr. is very intentional with the standard with which he holds his players. It is part of why he has never had a losing season since being named coach in 2021.
Robinson understands his players should enjoy the fruits of their labor after posting the program's first 10-win season in over 20 years. That fruit comes in the form of receiving more national exposure in the 2026 season.
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The Hornets will play on the ESPN family of networks five times in the 2026 season, not counting the SWAC Championship game and Cricket Celebration Bowl. That is a two-game improvement from the 2025 season. The conference received 12 games total as Alabama State and Jackson State took the most slots with four.
"It's something that when I'm recruiting kids, I can let them know, every game we play will be televised or streamed in some type of fashion," Robinson told the Montgomery Advertiser at the SWAC Football Media Day at the Sheraton in Birmingham on Wednesday, July 15.
Some of the biggest games for the Hornets will hit the national stage, like the inaugural Birmingham Classic and the Magic City Classic. It's rewarding for the conference, but Robinson credited the exposure as an opportunity for his players to be noticed by the NFL.
In the 2026 NFL Draft, no HBCU college football players were selected in its seven rounds.
"If you're a football guy and there's a football game on TV, you're going to watch that game regardless of who it is. If you're a GM or a scout and you're flipping channels and there's an ESPN game on and see Andrew Body playing incredible, you might have scouts telling their GMs to put them on their radar," Robinson said.
From an HBCU football player's standpoint, the televised games are as foundational pieces to their growth.
"Being on the forefront is a blessing, and it's a testament to what the conference is doing for athletes like myself and those who will be playing at HBCU universities to come," Body said.
Jaeden Day covers high school sports, Alabama State football and Auburn recruiting for the Montgomery Advertiser/USA Today. You can find him on X at dayjaeden12, or reach him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: What can national exposure do for Alabama State football in 2026?