SC State Will Mull Buddy Pough Contract Extension

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- 3 -7 was not the season Buddy Pough and the South Carolina State Bulldogs envisioned but that is their final record.

It's also the final year of Buddy Pough's contract. It expires next July.

Pough has been the head of the program for a longtime. In fact it took 16 years before Buddy lost to every member of the MEAC and that finally happened on Saturday when they lost to Savannah State.

Pough is 10 wins away from becoming the all-time winnigest coach at SC State. But right now his future is uncertain.

"I'd like to still coach for sure," Pough said at his final press conference of the 2017 regular season. "I still enjoy getting up and going to work and mixing with the guys, staff and players. I'd like to still coach. Whether or not that's going to still be a chance to do for long time from this point on that is still to be determined."

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GameDay preview: Edward Waters at Alabama State

THE GAME

WHEN: 2 p.m. Thursday

WHERE: ASU Stadium

RECORDS: Alabama State (4-6), Edward Waters (1-9)

ON THE AIR: Radio — WVAS-FM 90.7, WQKS-FM 100.5.

TWITTER: @mgmsports, @kamarrid

FOUR-DOWN TERRITORY

1. Turkey Day: A Thanksgiving tradition continues in Montgomery as Alabama State hosts Edward Waters in the 94th Turkey Day Classic. The Hornets are coming off a 16-10 victory at Mississippi Valley State, their fourth win in five games and eighth straight win against the Delta Devils. Alabama State only gained 213 yards of total offense, but the Hornet defense held Mississippi Valley State to just 179 total yards with just 11 coming on the ground.

2. Turkey Day streak: The Hornets have won four straight Classics, two over Stillman and two over Miles. Last season, ASU used a 36-point third quarter to pull away in a 53-20 win against Miles. Alabama State's previous TDC loss came to Tuskegee in 2012, the first game played at ASU Stadium. The Hornets have won five of their last six homecoming contests.



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'Storm the land, burn the ships': Bayou Classic a playoff game for GSU, Southern

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- The point of no return.

Win or go home.

State rivals Grambling State (9-1, 6-0) and Southern (7-3, 5-1) square up Saturday in the 44th annual Bayou Classic in the Big Easy with the SWAC Western Division title on the line for the second straight season.

To avoid an abrupt end to their season at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans and to extend it to at least include a return trip to Houston for the conference championship, the Tigers coming off a bye week have approached this weekend’s showdown just like a playoff. Or as senior running back Martez Carter put it, a war with much more at stake.

“We’re battle-tested. (Grambling State head football coach Broderick Fobbs) is always setting us up for war and right now, we’re training for the war on Saturday,” Carter told reporters Tuesday. “You lose some battles, but we win the war. We lost battle one, but Saturday means war, it’s win or go home.

“Like (offensive coordinator Eric Dooley) say, ‘we’re going to storm the land and burn the ships. We’re going to a place of no return.’”



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Why Southern Should Leave the SWAC

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Last week, sources confirmed that Hampton University plans to leave the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) to join the Big South Conference. The MEAC serves alongside the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) as one of two Division I-Football Championship Subdivision (DI-FCS) conferences within the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) that have only HBCU member institutions.

This comes on the heels of Savannah State University, another MEAC school, reclassifying to a Division II athletic program in April. The athletic director of the school recognized the loss in publicity that comes with being a Division II school, but admitted the costs that came with being a Division I program were too expensive.

What if Southern University began to have a similar epiphany?

The SWAC has consistently remained among the bottom feeders in terms of revenue, despite college athletics being a multibillion dollar industry. It has caused the conference to scratch the SWAC Football Championship in hopes that participating in the Celebration Bowl will pay off.

The Celebration Bowl could be considered ‘the Black College Football National Championship’, consisting of the champions from the SWAC and MEAC conferences squaring off to begin the college football postseason.

This type of bowl game is monumental for HBCUs, but although each conference is guaranteed a $1 million payout, more than half of that money goes to the two teams competing on the field. Technically speaking, if Southern’s football team headed to the Celebration Bowl six straight years, we could forget having this conversation.



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Title hopes on line when Southern meets Grambling in 44th annual Bayou Classic

NEW ORLEANS -- The 44th annual Bayou Classic kicks off Saturday at 4 p.m. with way more than bragging rights on the line.

The winner of this year's game will head to the SWAC Championship to face Alcorn State for a shot to play the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion in the Air Fore Reserve Celebration Bowl on Dec. 16 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

"The thing that's riding is the chance to play another week," Southern coach Dawson Odums said. "I think this year is a lot different from a year ago from the mindset of our football team. I think both teams understand you win, you move on. You lose you go home.



"There's no better time to be playing a game like that than in the Bayou Classic."

Grambling (9-1) won last year's matchup, 52-30, and went on to defeat Alcorn State and North Carolina Central to be named HBCU National Champions.

However, both coaches acknowledge a lot has changed since last year.

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Bayou Classic hopes to break records this week as Grambling, Southern face off

NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans officials are hoping for record attendance this year at the 44th annual Bayou Classic football game, which will see two Louisiana college teams compete for a shot at a conference championship.

Grambling State University and Southern University will face off for the chance to play in the Toyota Southwestern Athletic Conference Football Championship in Houston on Dec. 2.

Saturday’s game in New Orleans, and the events leading up to it, are not only a chance for supporters to cheer on their team; they are a celebration of Louisiana’s historically black colleges and universities, organizers said Monday.

“When we stand together, and think as one, and do as one, in support of HBCUs, we help to strengthen our future and the lives of students who attend them,” said Dottie Belletto, president and CEO of New Orleans Convention Co., the firm that manages the Bayou Classic.

The annual face-off between the two historically black universities has brought thousands of visitors to New Orleans over Thanksgiving weekend annually since 1974, after the event was launched in Shreveport in a 1973 test run.



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Head Football Coach Alex Wood Resigns From FAMU

Wood went 8-25 in three seasons

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- FAMU’s Athletic Director Milton Overton, Jr. announced Coach Alex Wood has resigned his position as head football coach and will step down today.

Coach Wood was hired on December 23, 2014 and signed a three-year agreement with FAMU.

Overton said, "Wood has served FAMU Athletics with honor as he worked to help rebuild the Rattler football program during the past three seasons. We thank him for his dedication and service."

FAMU will launch a national search to identify the next head football coach through a search committee led by Interim Director of Athletics John Eason. Offensive Line Coach Edwin Pata, a former FSU football player, will serve as interim head football coach.



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