S.C. State extends contracts of Carter, Robertson

South Carolina State Bulldogs at Florida A&M Rattlers
Saturday, 6 p.m., LIVE: ESPN3 (Internet); Delayed TV Tape: 10:30 p.m. ESPNU.


Last March, South Carolina State came two wins shy of sending both its mens and womens basketball teams to the NCAA Tournament. With hopes of creating more "March Madness" the next three seasons, the school Board of Trustees approved contract extensions for both head coaches Tim Carter for the men and Doug Robertson for the women.

The three-year extensions would keep both men, whose contracts were due to expire after this season, on the Orangeburg sidelines through the 2013-14 school year.

Taylor, FAMU hope to get ground game going against SCSU

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - If Florida A&M was seeking a "model" to follow for Saturday's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference showdown against South Carolina State, it found one the hard way in Tennessee State.

Motivated by eight consecutive losses to the Rattlers, the Tigers roared to a 29-18 victory last Saturday at the Atlanta Football Classic. Now FAMU looks to emulate Tennessee State by attempting to end eight years of frustration by snapping a seven-game losing streak to the ninth-ranked Bulldogs.

"The last eight years, Florida A&M has not had a victory," Rattlers' head coach Joe Taylor said Tuesday. "There's no reason to deny it."

Ukpai stunned by slow start »

When Martin Ukpai made his first collegiate start in the Florida Classic last season and was named MVP of the annual season finale, the Florida A&M faithful raved over knowing that they had a solid quarterback for the future.

Four games into this season, Ukpai's rating in the poll of public opinion is questionable at best. Concerns mounted even more after the Rattlers suffered their first loss to a Division I-AA team when they fell 29-18 to Tennessee State University.

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