CIAA Preview

The skinny

What's new: The conference shrunk to 12 teams in May when Saint Paul's announced it was cutting its athletics program. Teams scrambled to fill the hole left in their schedules. Virginia Union and St. Augustine's played each other last week to fill the void.

Who's new: Kevin Grisby, formerly the head coach at Saint Paul's, is now the defensive coordinator at Virginia Union. There are no new head coaches. Some of the league's biggest names from a year ago are now in the NFL. Virginia Union OT David Mims signed with the Chiefs, and Fayetteville State RB Richard Medlin joined the Patriots. St. Augustine's RB Walter Sanders, the conference's 2010 offensive player of the year, signed with the Ravens, but he was cut.

Top five players: Elizabeth City State QB Creven Powell, Chowan WR Robert Holland, Virginia State P Billy Rudd, Fayetteville State DB Andre Lyles, Shaw DB Darnell Evans.

Preseason offensive player of the year: Elizabeth City State QB Creven Powell

Preseason defensive player of the year: Fayetteville State defensive back Andre Lyles

READ MORE

SportsGroove Presents CIAA 2011 Football Media Day

Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN) Mark Gray report from the CIAA 2011 Football Media Day as the conference prepares for its 100th season of intercollegiate athletics with the start of the gridiron action.

HSRN Announces 2011 Football Broadcast Schedule

Hartly, DE – The Heritage Sports Radio Network (HSRN) will broadcast 23 exciting football games including the Super 7 Series of classic events. The broadcasts will be national on Sirius XM Satellite Radio and on local stations across the country. “This will be our most exciting broadcast schedule yet. The staff is proud to present the HBCU community a national radio platform that will give all fans and alumni consistent coverage,” said HSRN CEO Omarr Bashir.

HSRN will kickoff the schedule on (Sept. 1) with the Division I FBS vs. Division I FCS match-up in Piscataway, NJ, N. C. Central and Rutgers.

The highlight of the schedule is the “Super 7 Series” which includes seven events that will bring the Major Classics to the HBCU national community. The series will open on (Sept. 3) in Nashville, TN with the John Merritt Classic featuring Tennessee State and Southern. The “Super 7 Series” will also feature (Sept. 10) Cleveland Classic – N.C. Central vs. Central State, (Sept. 24) Atlanta Classic – Florida A&M vs. Southern, (Oct. 1) Circle City Classic – Albany St. vs. Kentucky St., (Oct. 29) Magic City Classic – Alabama A&M vs. Alabama St., (Nov. 19) Florida Classic – Bethune Cookman vs. Florida A&M and (Nov. 26) Bayou Classic – Grambling St. vs. Southern.

HSRN will feature three additional classic games (Sept. 3) Battle of the First/Wade Wilson Classic – Lincoln vs. Cheyney, (Sept. 10) Nations Classic – Morehouse vs. Howard, (Oct. 1) and (Oct. 8) Morehouse/Tuskegee Classic. There will also be four double header weekends including the championship games for the CIAA and SIAC (Nov. 12).

Top non-conference match-ups this season will be the Hampton Roads, VA CAA vs. MEAC rivalry (Sept. 17) between Hampton and Old Dominion, FBS/FCS match-up (Nov. 3)) between Mississippi Valley St. and South Alabama, and (Nov. 24) Annual Turkey Day Classic – Alabama St. vs. Tuskegee.

Conference rival match-ups will include (Sept. 17) Bowie St. homecoming vs. Livingstone (Oct. 15), N.C. A&T homecoming vs. Delaware St., and (Oct. 22) Florida A&M vs. S.C. State.

Founded in 2006, HSRN was created to provide a sports voice for the HBCU community. For over 100 years HBCU's have participated in collegiate athletics with little to no media coverage. Stars like Walter Payton, Doug Williams, and Michael Strahan are just a few of the many superstars who were HBCU athletes. There are approximately 7 million fans of HBCU sports who were media orphans in search of a home. HSRN is the only national radio network dedicated to HBCU sports. Our goal is to fuse the greats of the past with the stars of today to showcase the significance of this unique colorful and underserved sports community.

HSRN 2011 Football Broadcast Schedule

Date	Game	Site	Time
09/01	N.C. Central vs. Rutgers	Piscataway, NJ	7:30pm
09/03	Lincoln @ Cheyney Battle of the First/Wade Wilson Classic	Cheyney, PA	1:00pm
09/03	$ - Southern vs. Tennessee St. John Merritt Classic	Nashville, TN	6:00pm CT
09/04	Bethune Cookman vs. Prairie View MEAC/SWAC Challenge	Orlando, FL	12:00pm
09/10	$ - Central St. vs. N.C. Central Cleveland Classic	Cleveland, OH	12:00pm
09/10	Howard vs. Morehouse Nation’s Classic	Washington, DC	3:30pm
09/17	Bowie St. vs. Livingstone	Bowie, MD	1:00pm
09/17	Hampton vs. Old Dominion	Norfolk, VA	6:00pm
09/24	$ - Florida A&M vs. Southern Atlanta Classic	Atlanta, GA	3:30pm
10/01	$ - Albany St. vs. Kentucky St. Circle City Classic	Indianapolis, IN	2:30pm
10/08	Morehouse vs. Tuskegee Morehouse-Tuskegee Classic	Columbus, GA	2:00pm
10/15	Delaware St. vs. N.C. A&T	Greensboro, NC	1:30pm
10/22	Florida A&M vs. S.C. State	Orangeburg, SC	1:30pm
10/29	$ - Alabama A&M vs. Alabama St. Magic City Classic	Birmingham, AL	3:30pm
11/03	Mississippi Valley St. vs. S. Alabama	Mobile, AL	TBA
11/05	Albany St. vs. Ft. Valley St. Fountain City Classic	Columbus, GA	2:00pm
11/12	CIAA Championship Game	Durham, NC	TBA
11/12	SIAC Championship Game	TBA	TBA
11/19	$ - Bethune Cookman vs. Florida A&M Florida Classic	Orlando, FL	2:00pm
11/24	Turkey Day Classic	Montgomery, AL	1:00pm
11/26	$ - Grambling vs. Southern Bayou Classic	New Orleans, LA	3:00pm
12/03	Pioneer Bowl	Columbus, GA	2:00pm
12/10	SWAC Championship Game	Birmingham, AL	2:00pm
	$ - Super Seven Series Schedule is Subject to Change

VISIT: HERITAGE SPORTS RADIO NETWORK