JSU Tiger Nation learning to live with SWAC title ban

Jackson, MS - It's become a tradition for Charles Bishop. As soon as Jackson State releases its football schedule each year, he picks up the phone, dials a Birmingham hotel and books his room for the weekend of the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship football game.

Nine times out of the last dozen years, JSU didn't qualify for the title game, and Bishop had to call back six or so months later to cancel. This year, he didn't have to wait nearly that long. "I had to call the other day," Bishop said earlier this week.

Jackson State's banishment from this season's league championship game has been a powerful punch in the gut to diehard fans like Bishop. It's been a disappointing shock wave to players who signed with the school in February. They're all feeling the sting of the SWAC's ruling last week to make the Tigers ineligible for the 2011 title game - a decision that conformed with the NCAA's postseason ban, placed on JSU for low academic performance.

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2011-2012 JACKSON STATE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Date Opponent / Event Location Time

09/03/11 Concordia (Selma, AL) *MVMS 1:30 p.m. CT
09/10/11 vs. Tennessee State Memphis, TN 6:00 p.m. CT
09/17/11 at Southern Baton Rouge, LA TBA
09/24/11 vs. Alabama State *MVMS 4:00 p.m. CT
10/01/11 vs. Texas Southern *MVMS 4:00 p.m. CT
10/08/11 vs. Arkansas - Pine Bluff *MVMS 4:00 p.m. CT
10/15/11 at Mississippi Valley State Itta Bena, MS 2:00 p.m. CT
10/29/11 at Prairie View A&M Shreveport, LA 4:00 p.m. CT
11/05/11 vs. Grambling State *MVMS 2:00 p.m. CT
11/12/11 at Alabama A&M Huntsville, AL 1:00 p.m. CT
11/19/11 vs. Alcorn State *MVMS 1:00 p.m. CT

*MVMS (Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium)

Honda Battle of the Bands 2011 Set to Rock Atlanta

BATTLE OF THE BANDS: Marching 101 to compete Jan. 29 in Atlanta

South Carolina State University's Marching 101 has joined the ranks of the top eight Historically Black College and University marching bands selected to perform at the 2011 Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase.

Other bands participating in the showcase, set for Jan. 29 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, are Virginia State University's Marching Trojan Explosion, Albany State University's Marching Rams Show Band, Jackson State University's Sonic Boom of the South, Bethune Cookman University's Marching Wildcats, Clark Atlanta University's Mighty Marching Panthers, Winston-Salem State University's Red Sea of Sound and Tennessee State University's Aristocrat of Bands.

Honda Battle of the Bands 2011 Set to Rock Atlanta

More than 60,000 fans will flock through the gates of Atlanta’s Georgia Dome on January 29th, 2011 to witness the 9th annual Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase, an unparalleled performance and celebration of the nation’s elite marching bands. Renowned Hip-Hop performer and actor “Bow Wow” will join more than 1,800 student musicians and one of Atlanta’s best amateur vocalists to celebrate the music and creativity found at America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

FAMU's Marching 100 won't defend Honda Battle of the Bands title in Atlanta

Has the Marching 100 lost its mojo?  The Marching 100, Florida A&M University's famed marching band, will not be defending its title later this month in the annual Honda Battle of the Bands at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The Marching 100, winners of the event last year, didn't receive enough votes to qualify as 2011 finalists.

The voting process is broken down among fans, band directors and university presidents, said Erika Braxton-White, a spokeswoman for Honda. Each band director and university president gets one vote for any band except their own.

"We didn't campaign to participate," said Julian White, Marching 100 band director. He noted that the band wanted to focus this semester primarily on concert band performances.

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