42nd Annual Bayou Classic set to kick off November 28

NEW ORLEANS  -- Mark Alexander is what some might call a die-hard fan of the Southern University Jaguars.

Even though the New Orleans native matriculated at the University of Houston as an undergrad and earned a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee, his roots in the Jaguar Nation run deep.

Three of Alexander’s brothers and his older sister all earned degrees from Southern University and spent their Saturday nights on Scot’s Bluff rooting for the Jags and grooving to the “Human Jukebox.” For the past 10 years, Mark has made the drive to Baton Rouge religiously to attend SU home football games. And whenever he gets a chance to do so, he makes the trek to places like Jackson, Miss. and Prairie View, Texas to watch the Jags take on SWAC foes like Jackson State University and Prairie View A&M University.

But none of that compares to the energy and excitement of watching the Jags battle SWAC West foe Grambling every Saturday after Thanksgiving in the Crescent City during the Bayou Classic.

Alexander hasn’t missed a Bayou Classic in 25 years — not even the one played in 2005 in Houston after Katrina flooded 80 percent of New Orleans — and has the ticket stubs to prove it.



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