Thousands pour into New Orleans for Bayou Classic

Tens of thousands of people are pouring into New Orleans, and by the end of the weekend, they will have pumped millions of dollars into the New Orleans economy. The Bayou Classic is no ordinary game, and no ordinary event for New Orleans. A classic football rivalry between Grambling State and Southern University means one massive party in the city.

"GSU will win tomorrow. What's the score? It will be 30-12. Grambling State University, of course," said Rickey Burton. He and his wife Phyllis have been attending the rivalry game every year since he graduated from college in 1974. The festivities center around events at the Superdome. Friday night, the annual Battle of the Bands and Greek step show was the big draw, and adding a hint of New Orleans flavor was the Mardi Gras Indians as the event opener. The events draw thousands of fans.

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Bland scores 25 to lead A&T over Buffalo

Ta'Wanna Cook scored 21 points, seven assists and four steals in the Lady Aggies victory over Buffalo.

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Amber Bland led a quartet of double-figure scorers for N.C. A&T on Friday night as the Aggies defeated Buffalo in the second contest of the Lady Pirate Invitational inside Minges Coliseum. A&T improved to 2-2 on the season while the Bulls fell to 3-3. Bland, the MEAC preseason player of the year, paced the Aggies with 25 points while Ta'Wanna Cook added 21 points, seven assists and four steals to lead the Aggies to an 85-76 win.

The Aggies play East Carolina Saturday night at 7 for the championship.

"After seeing this team on film all week, we felt like we matched up well with them,'' said A&T coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs. "We knew they had several shooters on their team and that they passed the ball really well, but we knew if we played good defense, we could disrupt what they like to do on offense. Our young ladies came through tonight and I'm proud of the way they got after them on defense. If you let a team like that run their offense with out badgering them, they will pick you a part."

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Voice of experience says S.C. State Bulldogs can win it

There's two and a half decades between the last one and this one. There were close chances in some years. Others weren't so close. Today, the South Carolina State University Bulldogs will take their place among the nation's elite in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) playoffs. It's been 26 years since the Bulldogs were last in postseason play. It was 1982. Ronald Reagan was president. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album had just hit the store's shelves and a postage stamp was only 20 cents. It was also the senior year for Orangeburg businessman Sidney Fulton, the owner of Popeye's restaurant on Chestnut Street.

In 1982, Fulton was coming off his own championship season. While he was at State, Fulton and his teammates captured three MEAC football titles. Fulton himself was voted All-Conference three times and All-American once. He is in the SCSU Hall of Fame. Fulton knows what the Bulldogs face in three-time defending national champion Appalachian State. "They wouldn't be App State and they wouldn't have a talented team if they weren't excellent," Fulton said.

South Carolina State Bulldogs Coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award.

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Bayou Classic, always important, has rarely meant more to Grambling

GRAMBLING, LA —- For all the talk this year about tiebreakers and coin flips, Grambling’s goals are actually quite simple: Win and you’re in. A victory in the Bayou Classic ensures GSU’s berth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game for the sixth time in 10 editions. If only it were that simple.

“People around here,” second-year coach Rod Broadway was saying this week, “live and die with this game.” On two memorable occasions since the establishment of the SWAC title match, it was the latter. Grambling entered this emotional season-ending rivalry game against Southern in 1999 and again in 2003 needing a win to advance to Birmingham. Both times, GSU lost.

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Lonestar Classic @ Cotton Bowl features TSU vs. Arkansas - Pine Bluff

Texas Southern and Arkansas-Pine Bluff square off in the inaugural Dallas Lonestar Classic 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Cotton Bowl.

The Tigers (4-7) are climbing back to respectability following a winless campaign in 2007. Tigers quarterback Bobby Reid, formerly of Oklahoma State, had season-ending knee surgery this month. His replacement, Cornelius Harmon, has thrown for 809 yards and six touchdowns in the last four games. Wide receiver William Osbourne is one of the SWAC's most electrifying playmakers with 75 catches for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns.

The Golden Lions (2-9) have won two of their last four games, including a 34-0 drilling of Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 15. Running back Martell Mallett had 24 carries for 160 yards and two touchdowns in the victory and has 128 carries for 778 yards and seven touchdowns this season.

And this black college football showdown wouldn't be complete without the battle of the bands. At halftime, Texas Southern's Ocean of Soul and Pine Bluff's Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South take center stage.

From the bottom to the top, here's how the SWAC stacks up this year

Last year around this time, I tried out the first SWAC-themed First and 10. It quickly became the hit of the holidays. In its wake, coaches were fired, coaches were hired, egos were bruised and we all laugh­ed a lot. Let's do it again. Away we go, worst teams first.

No. 10, Alabama State: Picking the worst SWAC team this year is like trying to pick the person responsible for screwing up the McCain cam­paign. There are just so many options. Unfortunately for ASU, I went to the scoreboard. The Hornets have scored just 137 sad little points through 10 games -- an average of 13.7 points per game. If you're an offensive coach and you can't average two touchdowns per game in the SWAC, I think it's time to step back and take a hard look at your career choice. mean, the conference isn't exactly known for its great defensive minds. Of course, it hasn't helped ASU that head coach Reggie Barlow believes he's a judge on some new reality series where he can vote off an offensive coor­dinator every week.

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Bulldogs’ Pough enjoying dream job

Buddy Pough is living his dream. Growing up in Orangeburg, all Pough wanted to do was be part of his hometown team at South Carolina State. And for the majority of his life, he has done just that whether it has been as a fan, player or a coach. N-3n his seventh season as head coach, Pough gets to lead the Bulldogs into their first playoff game in 26 years when S.C. State faces three-time defending FCS champion Appalachian State on Saturday.

“It’s been an interesting journey,” Pough said. “To get the program back on our feet when other state universities are having problems has been a positive note.” From his coaching style his emotional pregame speeches, Pough’s passion and love for his university are evident. “He lives and breathes S.C. State football,” said Bulldogs receiver Phillip Morris, a Timmonsville native. “He is a great guy all around and great for the university.”

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