Turkey Day Classic 2013: Deal between Alabama State and Stillman a one-year agreement

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama  -- Alabama State will have a new opponent in the 90^th Turkey Day Classic in Stillman College.  

But there's no telling if the battle between the FCS Hornets and the Division II Tigers will continue beyond this season.

"The current agreement is for this year," Stillman Athletic Director Curtis Campbell told al.com. "So, I don't know what the future may hold after that. We'll just have to wait and see."

Campbell said Stillman first got word that Tuskegee, the Hornets' most common opponent in the annual showdown which dates back to 1924, at a meeting among Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Conference athletic directors about a month ago.  

Stillman approached ASU to see if the Hornets would be interested in playing the Tigers in the game which attracted more than 26,000 fans in the first game ever played at ASU's new $62-millon stadium "and things went from there" Campbell said.

The opportunity to market Stillman's brand in the state's capitol city trumped the possibility of playing in the NCAA Division II playoffs should the Tigers qualify. That's the reason Tuskegee cited, following a 10-2 season during which it won a conference title and likely would've been a top-seed in the postseason tournament, as the reason it decided not cease participating in the oldest rivalry in all of black college football.

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