Alabama State University to Build New Football Stadium

The Hornets new on campus stadium will boast 30,000 premium seats, corporate skyboxes and a $50 million price tag.

Alabama State University will begin constructing its new stadium in about six weeks.

ASU President William Harris announced during a Tuesday business and community breakfast held at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Spa at the Convention Center that a bond issue to finance the project had recently been approved.

"We should have shovels in the ground in the next six weeks," he told an audience of enthusiastic ASU supporters who gathered at the breakfast as part of ASU's homecoming festivities this week.  The proposed ASU stadium project is a 30,000-seat, mixed use stadium ...

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

87th Annual Turkey Day Classic & ASU Homecoming: Tuskegee Golden Tigers vs. Alabama State Hornets

TUSKEGEE (8-2) VS. ALABAMA STATE (7-3)

Kickoff: 3 p.m. Thursday

Facts and Figures - Site: Cramton Bowl (24,600) in Montgomery, Ala.; Records: Tuskegee, 8-2; Alabama State, 7-3. Television: ESPNU; Series record: Tuskegee leads, 59-33-4; Turkey Day Classic record: Tuskegee leads, 47-31-3; Conferences: Tuskegee, Division II SIAC; Alabama State, SWAC; Coaches: Tuskegee - Willie J. Slater (50-7 in five seasons); Alabama State - Reggie Barlow (19-22). Sheridan Poll Ranking: Tuskegee, 7; Alabama State, 10.

Golden Tigers to face Alabama State Hornets in 87th Annual Turkey Day Classic

Tuskegee, Ala. – The Tuskegee University Golden Tigers (8-2) will take on the Alabama State University Hornets (7-3) in the 87th Annual Turkey Day Classic on Thursday, Nov. 25 at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. This year's game will kick off at 3 p.m. CST.

The Golden Tigers and the Hornets have battled each other in what is considered the oldest football classic among Historically Black Colleges and Universities since 1924. Tuskegee leads the Turkey Day Classic series 47-31-3. The two teams have played each other 96 times since 1901, with Tuskegee leading the overall series 59-33-4. The 2009 game ended with the Golden Tigers winning 21-0.

ASU football coach Reggie Barlow a finalist for FCS coach of the year award

PHILADELPHIA -- Alabama State University head football coach Reggie Barlow has been named one of 20 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award, which honors the Football Championship Series (FCS) national coach of the year.

Barlow has led the Hornets to a 7-3 overall record heading into the final regular season game of the season. He led ASU to a Southwestern Athletic Conference Eastern Division Championship and a berth in the 2010 Farmers Insurance SWAC Football Championship Game on Dec. 11 in Birmingham.

HORNET HOMECOMING EVENTS

READ MORE, CLICK EACH TITLE.

B-CU to host UNH in playoff game

DAYTONA BEACH -- One day after losing their first game of the season and watching their starting quarterback and leader suffer a possible season-ending injury, the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats received a double dose of good news Sunday.

B-CU knew after Saturday's 38-27 loss to Florida A&M in Orlando that it was headed to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, which start this week. On Sunday morning, the Wildcats found out they will receive a first-round bye and then host New Hampshire on Dec. 4 in the first NCAA playoff game at Municipal Stadium since 2003.

BCU quarterback Matt Johnson possibly out for FCS playoffs

Bethune Cookman University football may be in trouble before its first FCS playoff game next Saturday.

The Wildcats sports media relations department said Matt Johnson, voted the MEAC’s offensive player of the year, is undergoing evaluations and listed as a game time decision for their Dec. 4th playoff game against New Hampshire.

Painful Berth

ORLANDO -- The only thing rarer than a Bethune-Cookman turnover this season has been a Bethune-Cookman loss. As is often the case, the former led to the latter Saturday in the Florida Classic, as the Rattlers handed the Wildcats their first loss of the season, 38-27 in front of 61,712 fans at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium.

The loss, B-CU's third straight to Joe Taylor and the Rattlers, dropped the seventh-ranked Wildcats (10-1, 7-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) into a three-way tie for first place in the conference with FAMU (8-3, 7-1) and South Carolina State (9-2, 7-1). However, the 'Cats won the league's automatic playoff bid based on the MEAC's tiebreaker system.



For B-CU and UNH Wildcats, waiting is the hardest part

Excerpt:

It might require equipment from the science lab to measure which team was more excited about its scenario — 11th-ranked UNH (7-4) or its opponent, 13th-ranked Bethune-Cookman, which will host the Round of 16 game on Dec. 4 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Bethune-Cookman, the automatic qualifier from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, went 10-1 under first-year coach Brian Jenkins and the selection committee took notice. The MEAC, traditionally a one-bid league, will see another of its members, South Carolina State (9-2), visit Georgia Southern in the newly-installed first round on Saturday.

"It just shows that people have noticed the hard work that this program has put in," said Jenkins...

READ MORE, CLICK EACH TITLE.

The Bear Facts: 5 Reasons why college students should be thankful on Thanksgiving

Today and the rest of the week, most students, staff and faculty will be joining family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a special time of the year that we join our families and friends in counting our blessings. Of course, Shaw University family is especially excited by victory that our football team delivered being the new CIAA Champions!

We are grateful that the Bears' flag flies high and we are also thankful that we can count many other blessings just by being students at this time. Here are five reasons why college students should be thankful on Thanksgiving:

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

FAMU savors share of the MEAC title

There wasn't a single player sulking around the Galimore Fieldhouse after Florida A&M found out it wasn't invited to the postseason party. Instead, coach Joe Taylor said he and his players are savoring their successes of the season.

Namely, the Rattlers' six-game win streak that culminated with a 38-27 victory over Bethune-Cookman in the Florida Classic is worth celebrating. By virtue of handing the Wildcats their only loss in 11 games, FAMU got a share of the Mid-Eastern Conference Championship.


Videographer: toocqrtonvu

Sylvester's 3 TDs lead Rattlers

ORLANDO -- Philip Sylvester had never before scored three touchdowns in a football game. Not even in Pop Warner or high school. The Florida A&M senior with nearly 3,000 career rushing yards picked a perfect time to reach his career-best scoring effort. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound running back had three TDs Saturday to lead the Rattlers to a 38-27 comeback win over Bethune-Cookman in the Florida Classic.

Sylvester was presented FAMU's Most Valuable Player Award much to the delight of the Rattler faithful -- and the school's band -- following the game at the Florida Citrus Bowl.

READ MORE, CLICK EACH TITLE.


Videographer: sonyadenise1974 (FAMU Complete Half-Time Show in HD - Mid-Stadium)

Bayou Classic coaches Broadway, Mitchell ready for showdown

The 37th annual State Farm Bayou Classic football game featuring Grambling State University and Southern University will take place at the Louisiana Superdome with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday in New Orleans. The game will be televised nationally by NBC.

The Bayou Classic series is tied at 18-18 and the overall Southern-Grambling series is led by Southern, 29-28. Grambling has a 8-2 overall record and a 7-1 record in the SWAC Western Division under 4th year Head Coach Rod Broadway. Southern is 2-8 and has...

House, Southern reflect on lost 2010

A simple, narrow tunnel stretches between the playing field at A.W. Mumford Stadium and Southern’s locker room inside the field house. On one side is the equipment room, where players receive their practice gear every afternoon. On the other side is a set of three meeting rooms, separated by folding walls. At the north end, near the locker room, is a set of long, wooden benches.

Players who need medical treatment often sit there, waiting for treatment. This season, free safety Jason House has seen more of those benches than he ever cared to. A preseason All-American who led the nation with 10 interceptions last year, House has missed the last seven games with...

Championship wealth spread throughout SWAC

You want parity? For years — no, decades — the Southwestern Athletic Conference was the wrong place to look for it. Not all teams were created equal, and by Thanksgiving weekend, that was plainly obvious.

Now, however, when it comes to parity, the SWAC is your one-stop shop. Consider this: Over a 27-year stretch from 1977-2003, one of three teams — Jackson State, Southern or Grambling — won or shared the SWAC title 24 times.

No titles at stake in Bayou Classic

There was a time when the winner of the Bayou Classic would play in the SWAC Championship Game. Not this year. Grambling (8-2, 7-1) could have gone to the SWAC title game, but the Tigers lost their last game to Texas Southern and TSU defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday to wrap up the Western Division title.

READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.

Legendary Alcorn State Coach Davey L. Whitney Inducted into National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame

2010 National Collegiate Basketball HoF Davey L. Whitney 

Alcorn State University legendary Coach Davey Whitney was among eight inductees to the 2010 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class on Sunday, November 21, 2010.

His teams won 711 games in 35 years of coaching but Davey Whitney did so much more than win
basketball games. The “Wiz”, who earned more letters than any other athlete at Kentucky State University, brought his Alcorn State University program to heights that never seemed possible.

The Braves dominated the Southwestern Athletic Conference with nine championships and little recognition until 1979, when Whitney guided his team to a berth in the NIT, one of the first for a historically black institution. Alcorn also upset in-state rival Mississippi State in the opening round.

The next year, Alcorn earned a berth in the NCAA tournament, one of four for Whitney coached teams, and topped South Alabama in the opening round. USA Basketball has recognized Whitney’s coaching talents on several national teams and he was the recipient of the NCAA’s first Journey Award in 1972.

Whitney’s coach teams won a total of 12 SWAC championships. Whitney’s Alcorn State Braves became the first historically black college team to win an NIT game, and one year later, Alcorn became the first historically black college to win an NCAA Tournament game.

Whitney started his coaching career at Burt High School in Nashville, Tenn., and coached at Texas Southern for five years before moving to Alcorn State University.

Press Release: NCBHOF
Legendary Coach Davey L. Whitney

READ MORE, SEE PHOTO GALLERY, CLICK TITLES.