MEMPHIS – As the HBCU football national championship picture sharpens into focus, the views from Lorman, Miss. and Greensboro, N.C. are better than any a month out from the Celebration Bowl.
But before Alcorn State coach Fred McNair can look east from his school’s Lorman campus toward the Atlanta site of the Dec. 15 Black College national title game, his attention will shift west to New Orleans for Saturday’s Bayou Classic.
With the Braves (8-3) having already locked up their fifth consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference East division title, McNair can digest Thanksgiving leftovers as he watches Grambling State and Southern battle for the West division crown. That game’s winner earns a trip to Alcorn State for the Dec. 1 SWAC championship game, which determines the league’s berth to the Celebration Bowl.
Both teams are better than when we played them that first time around. But so are we.
Fred McNair
The Braves have already beaten both Grambling (6-4) and Southern (6-3) during the regular season. And although McNair has the benefit of seeing the Tigers and Jaguars duke it out while his team rests in waiting, Saturday’s viewing experience won’t exactly feel like a festive watch party.
“I’m watching that game as a coach,” McNair said of the Grambling-Southern showdown. “I’m always looking for something, whether they’ve got trick plays or they’re lining up the same as when we played them the first time, things of that nature. Both teams are better than when we played them that first time around. But so are we.”
Meanwhile over in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, North Carolina A&T (9-2) has a greater benefit of even more time after celebrating its second straight league title and fourth in the past five seasons.
First, coach Sam Washington and the Aggies get to sit idly by as top contenders from the rival SWAC pound one another for the next two weekends. And then, N.C. A&T also gets two additional weeks to prepare for whichever team emerges from the SWAC melee leading to the Dec. 15 bowl game.
The first (off) week will be all fundamental practices, and every day we’ll just work on basics and mechanics and team-building stuff. We’ll then get an idea (Saturday) and narrow it down to the two teams we’ll possibly be playing. Then, we’ll start to devise different plans.
Sam Washington
For most teams, that wait could be excruciating. But for the Aggies, who are making their third trip to the Celebration Bowl and fourth straight postseason appearance, it’s all part of a familiar process. The defending Black College football national champions have mastered the challenge of maintaining rhythm and avoiding much rust during long layoffs.
“Absolutely, it is tough,” Washington said of enduring 27 days between last Saturday’s regular-season finale and Dec. 15. “But the bright side is we can heal, lick our wounds and start over. The first (off) week will be all fundamental practices, and every day we’ll just work on basics and mechanics and team-building stuff. We’ll then get an idea (Saturday) and narrow it down to the two teams we’ll possibly be playing. Then, we’ll start to devise different plans.”
A SWAC West title and trip to the Dec. 1 conference championship game is up for grabs at Saturday’s Bayou Classic in New Orleans between Grambling and Southern/Getty Images.
Grambling and Southern will dictate the next step for all involved.
That exclusive spotlight is nothing new for Louisiana’s longstanding HBCU rivals, who have combined for 14 of the last 19 SWAC West titles dating to 1999. The Tigers have won the division each of the past three seasons, with the Jaguars claiming consecutive West crowns the two previous years.
So, it only seems fitting that it comes down to this – yet again.
“I don’t think there’s anything different this time around,” Southern coach Dawson Odums said. “You’ve got the same things on the line, and that’s been the case five of the last six years. And that’s finding a way to win a football game that sends you to the SWAC championship. That’s really what it’s all about and it’s been that way in the wild, wild west for some time. We understand the opponent we’re going against.”
You’ve got the same things on the line, and that’s been the case five of the last six years. And that’s finding a way to win a football game that sends you to the SWAC championship. That’s really what it’s all about and it’s been that way in the wild, wild west for some time. We understand the opponent we’re going against.
Dawson Odums
Despite being bitter rivals, Southern (6-3) and Grambling (6-4) have had plenty in common over the second half of the season. Both programs got off to shaky starts and had to rebuild on the fly after losing key seniors from last season. Both made midseason quarterback changes that sparked turnarounds in which they’ve each won five of their last six.
And both entering Saturday’s game riding the two longest current winning streaks in the SWAC, with neither Grambling nor Southern having lost since respectively falling to Alcorn State.
We’ve had to find a way to fill holes. And they were big holes, losing 75 percent of your offense from last year. To have a winning record at this particular time and an opportunity to be in position to still achieve all of our goals, that’s monumental.
Broderick Fobbs
“It’s been very challenging, but those challenges are probably the best things that have happened for me and my coaching career,” said Grambling coach Broderick Fobbs, who saw his team’s 26-game conference winning streak end earlier this season. “We’ve had to find a way to fill holes. And they were big holes, losing 75 percent of your offense from last year. To have a winning record at this particular time and an opportunity to be in position to still achieve all of our goals, that’s monumental.”
What’s even bigger might be the scene in New Orleans in the coming days. Odums believes a Saints home game on Thanksgiving against the Falcons, followed by Friday’s Grambling-Southern Battle of the Bands should create an epic atmosphere at the Superdome for Saturday’s Bayou Classic, which has averaged 67,100 fans the past two years.
It also sets the stage for the second of three consecutive weekends when either a MEAC or SWAC division or conference championship will be at stake along the path to next month’s Celebration Bowl.
And from there, all of the watcing and waiting will be over.
The HBCU national championship title will be crystal clear.
MikeCheck HBCU Power Poll 11.0
1. Alcorn State (8-3):
The Braves had to rely on their defense, and it responded with a second-half shutout of rival Jackson State in a 24-3 win in last Saturday’s Soul Bowl. Alcorn State coach Fred McNair has complete confidence in a team that’s won in multiple ways to snag a fifth straight East Division title. The SWAC’s most balanced offense as well as its most dominant defense is peaking at the right time.
Last week’s ranking: 1
Up next: Dec. 1 SWAC championship game
2. North Carolina A&T (9-2):
The Aggies saved their most dominant effort of the regular season for last, blanking rival N.C. Central 45-0 to win their fourth MEAC title in five years. QB Lamar Raynard returned from a concussion absence to pass for two touchdowns and tailback Marquell Cartwright ran for 110 yards and two more scores to go with an Aggie defense that held Central to only 41 total yards.
Last week’s ranking: 2
Up next: Dec. 15 Air Force Reserves Celebration Bowl vs SWAC champion
3. Bowie State (10-2):
The Bulldogs capitalized on their first CIAA conference title in school history by knocking off West Alabama 41-35 in the opening round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. NCAA player of the year candidate Amir Hall put up another video-game like performance, this time completing 31 of 48 passes and accounting for 411 total yards and two TDs to push Bowie State into the second round.
Last week’s ranking: 4
Up next: Saturday at Valdosta State (8-3)
4. Southern (6-3):
Jaguars’ coach Dawson Odums joked during this week’s SWAC teleconference that the recent cold weather in Baton Rouge was a tough opponent for arguably the league’s hottest offensive team over the past month. But Southern braved the elements through its bye week and carry a four-game winning streak into the most highly-anticipated Bayou Classic in years, with the SWAC West at stake.
Last week’s ranking: 3
Up next: Saturday vs Grambling (6-4)
5. Bethune-Cookman (7-5):
Defensive back Tydarius Peters picked off two passes in the fourth quarter, including the game-clincher he returned 90 yards for a score, as the Wildcats won their eighth straight over Florida A&M. B-CU ended the season on a three-game winning streak in front of 52,142 Florida Classic fans in Orlando. They’re already eager for the 2019 opener against Jackson State in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.
Last week’s ranking: Unranked
Up next: Season complete
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