BIRMINGHAM, Ala. &045; If everybody had a prediction &045; wait a minute, just about everyone does nowadays.

Even if there was just one, it still wouldn’t matter. Coaches at the Southwestern Athletic Conference annual Media Day may not have taken much stock in the conference’s poll &045; one that has Alcorn State predicted to come up third and Alabama State and Grambling playing for the SWAC Championship in November.

The only problem is the preseason predictions in the East in recent seasons have turned out like Prairie View football &045; no matter they tried, the voters never could get it right.

&uot;If any prediction had any validity, we wouldn’t need to play the games,&uot; said Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas, whose team was picked to win the East last fall while finishing in third place. &uot;Every year in respect to the Eastern and Western divisions, the team that they predicted to win didn’t win it. It doesn’t have anything to do with predictions. It’s just something that needs to be done, but you play the games to determine the Eastern and Western champions.&uot;

Yet Thomas said he likes his team’s prediction at third place, since it obviously doesn’t come with the bull’s eye of sorts from being picked to win the thing. Alabama State was picked to repeat as East champ ahead of Alabama A&M, while Mississippi Valley was tabbed fourth and Jackson State last.

Alabama State swept the preseason top honors with quarterback Tarvaris Jackson being named Offensive Player of the Year and linebacker Billy Gresham named Defensive Player of the Year.

Alcorn wide receiver Charlie Spiller, the Woodville native who finished with 1,111 yards receiving last season, and safety Taurian Parks earned spots on the preseason first team.

&uot;I think that’s a good thing,&uot; Spiller said of the prediction. &uot;It’ll motivate us to work harder to get to the top where we’re supposed to be.&uot;

A rocket scientist may not be able to predict correctly how the whole thing will shake out, but the season could be an interesting one in the East

with perhaps the only reasonable prediction being Texas Southern will have an uphill climb to get out of the cellar in the West.

In the East, Valley played well at times while losing some games by only a handful of points, and Jackson State started to show progress under embattled head coach James Bell.

&uot;It’s just a matter of which team doesn’t suffer any adversities during the year,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;Injuries, turning the football over and making the mental mistakes that cost you a football game. That’s what it’s going to boil down to for the division.&uot;

In Alcorn’s situation, it may all boil down to who gets the quarterback position and how the offense responds. The question was one of the most often-asked queries during Friday’s Media Day as the Braves have a task ahead of them they haven’t faced since prior to the 2001 season.

Will it be sophomore Oliver Bozeman or incoming freshman Tony Hobson out of Jackson Provine?

&uot;I think the quarterback situation right now &045; I think that’s going to be the key to us winning this year,&uot; Spiller said. &uot;I worked out with (Hobson) four or five times. He’s a very talented quarterback. I think he’ll do good things at Alcorn.&uot;

Bozeman took some snaps last year at times and most of the Jackson State game, and coaches like his quickness. But they’re high on Hobson’s arm, and the Braves have Spiller and Nate Hughes at receiver who need to get the ball.

&uot;Everybody wants to know who’s going to be the quarterback and how we’re going to fare with that person in the spot,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;I want to know, too, you know what I mean? We have to see at the very beginning of training camp and during training camp who is going to emerge as the starter. Right now we just don’t know.&uot;

With Spiller, the junior is hoping to find a way to improve on his 1,000-yard season. Through two seasons his 1,677 total yards receiving already has him in the top 10 in school history, just ahead of Fred McNair’s 1,614.

At this pace he’ll shatter the school record of Kobie Jenkins’ 2,766.

With Parks, the 5-8 cornerback may be the most experienced player in the secondary. Yet Parks had a dropoff in the second half of last season after staring off strong &045; including a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown against Grambling in the season opener.

&uot;Parks had a pretty good year last year, but Quentin had an outstanding year,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;Parks played very well the year before when Jeremy Stockdale got hurt. We felt good about him, and last year he played well the first half of the season and struggled the second half. That’s something he can’t do this year at all.&uot;