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BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — For the first time since the inception of the Celebration Bowl, Southern will be eligible to play in it.
The NCAA lifted its postseason ban on Southern, which had prohibited the football team from participating in the Southwestern Athletic Conference's only guaranteed postseason football game. The conference championship game is considered to be part of the regular season.
That said, coach Dawson Odums said not to expect his team to treat the season any differently.
“That opportunity doesn’t present itself if you don’t do what you’re supposed to,” Odums said. “That’s always been the approach. Nothing at the end matters if you don’t go through the beginning and the middle.”
While he hasn’t received official word, Odums said he is assuming it means his team will be able to go through full spring practices as a team in 2018.
Neither of Southern’s two representatives at Southwestern Athletic Conference media day, seniors Austin Howard and Danny Johnson, has gone through spring practice, as Southern has gone three years without it.
Southern can finally go into a season knowing that, if it plays well enough, it will be able to compete for a bowl championship just like everybody else in the conference. While coach Dawson Odums said that having the end-of-season incentive doesn’t change anything for how his football team must approach the day, it is nice for the program to know it can be rewarded for a strong season.
2. New rule, same Odums.
A rule was implemented college football-wide this offseason aiming to penalize coaches for going onto the field of play to argue a call. “I’m rarely on the field arguing calls,” Odums said. “I think it also sets an example for your following to think that it’s okay to argue calls. I try to be the best role model for our players. Officials make mistakes just like we make mistakes. You live with it, they give you a good explanation.”
3. Money game.
The SWAC is abandoning its championship game to focus on the Celebration Bowl, but what it really boils down to is money — money for fans traveling, money to play in a fancy stadium with all the bells and whistles. What about this for a solution: Play the games on a campus site. The Conference USA has been using that system for years, and the Sun Belt is adopting it this season. The league is better with a championship game.
BIRMINGHAMN, Alabama -- The Southwestern Athletic Conference released its 2017 SWAC Preseason Teams Friday with 14 players from defending SWAC Champion and Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl winner Grambling State being tabbed for the most individual honors.
The teams were announced during SWAC Football Media Day at the newly renovated Birmingham Marriott after ballots were cast by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors.
49 players were named to this year’s preseason teams, with several returning players that earned SWAC All-Conference honors at the conclusion of the 2016 season. Should a player that was named to the first team in the postseason awards not return, the second-team player for that position was elevated to the first team. Players were ranked in their position based upon the number of votes received. Ballots required voters to rank their selections in order. After helping lead the Tigers to a conference-best 11-win season, Grambling State quarterback Devante Kincade was the voters’ choice for the SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year award. In 2016, Kincade completed 63 percent of his passes and threw for 3,022 yards with 31 touchdowns against just four interceptions.
Jackson State defensive end Keontre Anderson was tabbed as the SWAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year after leading the nation with 25.5 tackles for a loss to go along with nine sacks and six hurries.
Prairie View A&M had the second most selections with eight including four first teamers. Alcorn State and Southern were tied for the third most amount of selections with seven apiece (four first team selections each) while Alabama A&M garnered five selections. Jackson State nabbed three spots, Alabama State and Mississippi Valley State each had two representatives while Texas Southern and Arkansas-Pine Bluff had one selection apiece.
Joining Kincade on the preseason first-team offense are: running backs Martez Carter (Grambling State) and Jordan Bentley (Alabama A&M), offensive linemen Trent Scott (Grambling State), Donovan Wheaton (Prairie View A&M), Timothy Gardner (Alcorn State), William Waddell (Grambling State), and Sam Baptiste (Alabama State), wide receivers KhaDarel Hodge (Prairie View A&M) and Devohn Lindsey (Grambling State) and tight end Dillon Beard (Southern). Joining Anderson on the preseason first-team defense are: defensive linemen Aaron Tiller (Southern), Michael Brooks (Alcorn State), and DeVohn Reed (Prairie View A&M), linebackers Kenneth Davis (Alabama A&M), Sean Jones (Texas Southern), De’Arius Christmas (Grambling State), and defensive backs Danny Johnson (Southern), Everett Nicholas (Mississippi Valley State), Tere Calloway (Alabama A&M) and Derrick Dixon (Grambling State). Kicker Nick Carden (Alabama A&M), punter Owen Hoolihan and Martez Carter (Grambling State) were each tabbed as first team selections for special teams. Carter was the only player to double as a first team selection at separate positions (also made first team as a running back).
East Division defending champion Alcorn State totaled 80 points as it was named the preseason favorite to win the East. Alabama State was selected to finish in second with 66 points, Jackson State received 59 points, followed by Alabama A&M (45) and Mississippi Valley State (20). In the West Division, reigning SWAC champion and Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl winner Grambling State was chosen as the overall favorite after amassing a conference-best 85 points in the voting. Southern was selected second after it received 68 points. Prairie View A&M followed closely in third place with 59 points while Texas Southern (37) and Arkansas Pine Bluff (21) rounded out the order of predicted finish.
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Devante Kincade (QB) – Grambling State Preseason Defensive Player of the Year:Keontre Anderson (DL) – Jackson State
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- – If Southwestern Athletic Conference member Prairie View A&M played in the East Division instead of the West Division, it would have won the title by two games last year.
Instead the Panthers finished as the third-place team in the West by two games.
Sure, the large FCS conferences like CAA Football, the Big Sky and the Missouri Valley are stuffed with depth, but the West Division also should be viewed as a gauntlet. It’s only five teams deep but boasts the likes of defending SWAC champion Grambling State, Southern and Prairie View, a trio that went a combined 24-3 in conference games, and perfect against the East.
Those three teams were installed in that order in the SWAC’s preseason poll on Friday. Over in the East, Alcorn State was favored to win its fourth straight division title.
Incredibly, Grambling (11-1, a second straight 9-0 in the SWAC), Southern (8-3, 8-1) and Prairie View (7-4, 7-2) combined for fewer losses than what Alcorn State (5-6, 5-4) suffered while winning the East under first-year coach Fred McNair. Grambling, under coach Broderick Fobbs, went on to beat Alcorn in the SWAC Championship Game and then topped Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champ North Carolina Central in the second annual Air Force Celebration Bowl to be crowned as the black college football national champion.
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — The Southwestern Athletic Conference is all-in when it comes to the Celebration Bowl, banking on it to put the league on better financial footing.
The SWAC is dropping its championship game in a money-saving move. The league won’t have a title contest starting in 2018 after ending up in the red because of dwindling attendance.
“Whenever you get a million dollars and you’re not spending a million dollars on your own championship game, it helps tremendously,” SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp said Friday at the league’s media day.
The SWAC’s postseason, barring receiving what is believed would be its first at-large FCS playoff berth, will pit the champion against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference winner in the Celebration Bowl at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
But it’s not just about the money. Coaches in the league that once routinely produced NFL stars, including Jerry Rice and Walter Payton, believe the platform will have a positive impact onTR recruiting, enhance the prestige of the conference and make travel easier for fans.
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- Nothing sounds quite like black college bands – even in the rain.
Despite a driving downpour, last year’s Queen City Battle of the Bands rocked on before a packed house at Memorial Stadium. This year’s showcase will take the field August 26 at 7 p.m., featuring some of the nation’s best college bands Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 on the day of the showcase.
Advance tickets can be bought at www.crowntickets.com or by calling 1-888-547-6478. A College Fair will be held 3-5 p.m. at the Grady Cole Center, Doors open at 5 p.m., with pre-show at 6:30 p.m.
EVENT BANDS Alabama State University Bethune Cookman University North Carolina Central University Miles College Talladega College Tennessee State University Winston Salem State University
“To be honest, we were very blessed last year to have the amount of people we had with the rain,” QCBB founder Derek Webber said. “It shows the interest the community has in HBCUs and marching bands and supporting the event that donates scholarship money back to the universities. It’s a great testimony to what we’re doing and what we will continue to do to enhance the exposure of our HBCUs and marching bands.”
The 2017 lineup includes in-state rivals N.C. A&T State, N.C. Central and Winston-Salem State universities as well as out-of-state newcomers. The goal is to widen the QCBB’s reach and expose fans to bands they may not have seen in person. CONTINUE READING
DURHAM, North Carolina -- Add another one to the list. The North Carolina Central football team added its fifth FBS transfer to its football roster Saturday night.
De’Niro Laster, a linebacker, posted on his personal Twitter account that he would be closing out his college career with the Eagles. Laster, a native of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, started his playing career at Minnesota but played at Kentucky last season.
Laster is a 6-4, 241-pound inside linebacker, who was a three-star player coming out of Cleveland Heights High School. He earned his degree in May and will be eligible to play right away for N.C. Central, which won its first outright MEAC title in 2016.
In 2014 Laster played in nine games as a redshirt freshman with the Gophers, making seven tackles. That same season he was also named to the Academic All-Big Ten list. He sat out 2015 at Kentucky due to NCAA transfer rules but did practice with the team. He missed most of last season with a knee injury, recording 14 tackles in five games during his lone season in Lexington. Laster also recorded one sack and a fumble recovery in 2016. CONTINUE READING
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — For the first time since the inception of the Celebration Bowl, Southern will be eligible to play in it.
