The Community Times Dispatch

For the first time in over thirty years I decided to follow black college football this past season. In doing so, my first observation was that the media still calls it “black college football” yet most of the traditional black colleges now have university status. I do understand where the name “black college” came from. Years ago blacks were not allowed to attend the so – called major universities, and before the civil war it was almost impossible for an African American student to receive an education from a higher learning institution. After the Civil War things started to change, and between 1870 and 1910 several black colleges were established with the help of African American Churches.

I enjoyed going to South Carolina State University on Saturdays and watching the Bull Dogs eliminate every opponent they encounter. The atmospheric conditions of the game laced with family, food and friends are what make the HBCU football game experience a thing of splendor. This South Carolina State University Football Team was one of the best teams I’ve witnessed, in years and my hat goes off to Coach Buddy Pough, the 2009 MEAC “Coach of the Year,” and his entire staff.

Early in the season, the Bulldogs were beating powerhouses like Grambling, Bethune – Cookman, and Florida A & M. One would surly think that those wins would be headline news on the local sports reports. Then it became quite noticeable in mid season that the local mainstream media was simply not covering the SCSU football program like it was covering Clemson and the University of South Carolina. This is nothing new, but every year SCSU fans sit with baited breath hoping that SCSU will get more attention from the local media since they were proving themselves on the field. Then it happened! SCSU was declared the 2009 MEAC Champions, which means they would now play the winner from the Southern Conference which is another division of the FCS Conference in the first round of the playoffs.

The FCS Football Conference has fifteen divisions which include the MEAC and SWAC. It also houses four independent schools which are North Carolina Central, Savannah State, Presbyterian, and Stony Brook.

South Carolina State fans were jubilant that the Bulldogs were headed to the playoff, but at the same time it was clear that something was wrong with the selection process of placing playoff teams against each other. Why did Appalachian State’s Coaches know they were playing South Carolina State University hours before South Carolina State Coaches knew who they were playing, which afforded Appalachian’s Coaching Staff the opportunity to immediately start downloading film of the Bulldogs. There’s also the question of who are the committee members who actually place the teams from the different divisions, and what’s the real reason behind SC State not getting a home field playoff game this year?

The game ultimately came down to the deciding field goal, and on the minds of many was the question, could the South Carolina State University Bulldogs do against the Appalachian State Mountaineers what the Florida A & M University Rattlers did against the nationally ranked University of Miami Hurricanes in 1979? Well, we now know that SCSU missed a critical field goal which would have ultimately led to an upset victory. Anyway, we applaud the efforts of SCSU and look forward to them returning to the playoffs next year to a revised system.

The 2009 Walter Camp All – American Team did name two players from historically black universities. Defensive Back Terrell Whitehead of Norfolk State University and two-time selection Kick Re-turn specialist LeRoy Vann of Florida A & M. The MEAC offensive player of the year was Curtis Pulley of FAMU, and the defensive honors went to George Howard of Morgan State. The SWAC named Prairie View’s QB K.J. Black as its offensive player of the year and DE Christian Anthony of Grambling State as the defensive player of the year.

According to USA Today the Sheridan Poll’s final listings of the top five HBCU football teams are 1.Tuskegee, 2.South Carolina State, 3.Grambling, 4.Prairie View and

5. Bethune – Cookman. Recently Prairie View beat Alabama A & M to win the SWAC

Conference Championship, yet there is no system in place that would have placed Prairie View against South Carolina State, the winner of the MEAC Division. One would think the “powers that be” would explore this possibility which would determine a true champion of all HBCU’s. Another observation is that Tuskegee finished with a 9-0 record. If a true system were in place it seems only right for them to play the winner of a MEAC / SWAC Championship game to settle this dilemma once and for all, but for some unknown reason the schools in the SWAC Division forgo the opportunity to play in a national playoff system, thus leaving the avid football spectator with the question of, who is the true # 1 HBCU football team in the nation at the end of the year. Year after year this scenario continues to leave the black college football fan with a mythical national champion or “colloquial” which is a tern used to describe a champion in a sport that does not utilize a playoff or tournament system.

In 1920 Howard University was considered the first national black champion, and to date the top five winningest all time national black championship football programs are

Grambling with 14 wins, Florida A & M with 12 wins, Tennessee State with 11 wins, Southern University with 9 wins, and Tuskegee with 8 wins.

Most HBCU football Classics unlike Bowl games take place during college footballs regular season. They are accompanied by parades, golf tournaments, academic lectures, cheer leading competitions, barbecue rib cook offs, and the battle of the bands competitions. The oldest Classic on record is the Turkey Day Classic in Montgomery, Al which was started in 1924. This annual game is between Tuskegee and Alabama A & M. Then there’s the Orange Blossom Classic in Miami started in 1933 which is a post season game featuring Florida A & M University. Other notable Classics are the Fish Bowl started and held in Norfolk, VA in 1948, featuring Norfolk State University. The Aggie / Eagle Classic started in 1994 is held in Raleigh, NC, the Bayou Classic, which started in 1974 is an annual game between Southern and Grambling State University, and held in the Superdome and televised on NBC. Then there’s the Dallas Lone Star Classic, started in 2008 which is played between the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and Texas Southern University. This game is played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The MEAC / SWAC Challenge game is held in Orlando, Fl, and televised on ESPNU.

Throughout the nation there are more than 45 HBCU Classis matches held at any given time during football season.

The video game the “Black College Football Experience,” was started by Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams and Pro Bowl MVP James Harris, both of Grambling University. This game captures the history; culture and pageantry of black college football. They are to be commended for their efforts in conceiving the idea and making this game come to life. The game was technically made possible by black engineers from the Silicone Valley. The game covers everything from pre – game to the post and fifth quarter band challenges. It even covers tail gating which has become an essential part of the game.

Doug and James are also responsible for the newly created Black College Football Hall of Fame which will induct eight on February 10, 2010 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta. This hall will initially open and operate as a traveling exhibit until a permanent home is found. The National College Football Hall of Fame is also moving from South Bend, Indiana to Atlanta. These two coming attractions will make Atlanta the hub for all College Sports Enshrinements.

In years to come, the Black College Football Hall of Fame “Sure In Inductees” will easily include players like; Rayfield Wright from Fort Valley State, Cedric Oglesby of South Carolina State, Larry Little of Grambling, Joe “747″ Adams of Tennessee State, Jerry Rice of Mississippi Valley State, Ed “Too Tall” Jones of Tennessee State, Deacon Jones of South Carolina State who coined the phrase “Sack the Quarterback,” Leroy Kelly of Morgan State who replaced the great Jim Brown after he retired from the Cleveland Browns, “Jefferson Street” Joe Gillium of Tennessee State, “Bullet” Bob Hayes, known as the Worlds Fastest Human” from Florida A & M University, and Walter Payton from Jackson State University, know as “Sweetness” for his gracious moves as a runner. “Sure In” coaches are the legendary Eddie Robinson of Grambling who is the winningest coach in all of college football, and Jake Gaither of FAMU, who won six national black championships.

This hall will set the stage that will lead to many heated debates as to who should be inducted, which school should be declared as having the greatest football team of all time, and who should be selected as part of the greatest players to play on a fictional team.

Curtis Inabinett, Jr.
Inabinett1@aol.com