Week 9 in the SIAC

Oct. 19- 21, 2006

Skegee/FAMU/FVSU

Week 8 Review and Week 9 Prognostications

Another exciting weekend of HBCU football is behind us.  There weren’t any real surprises this past weekend.  There were so many evenly matched teams going at it.   First of all, I want to give Savannah St. props for ending its membership in the goose egg club against Morehouse... Albany St. rolled on to victory against Clark-Atlanta...Lane came from behind to nip Miles…Benedict defeated Kentucky St, in what may be considered a mild upset…Even in losing, Stillman made AAMU earn their homecoming victory…On the MEAC side of the world, BCC survived WSSU, just as I predicted…Delaware St. had a rather convincing victory over NCA&T…Hampton had an even more convincing victory over NSU…Morgan St. spoiled Howard’s homecoming (at least the parties were good)…Finally, SCSU dominated the Rattlers to even their record.  For those of you keeping score, I was 3-2 in predicting SIAC games, 3-1 in predicting MEAC games, and 1-0 in the SWAC.  My overall record for the week was 7-3, not spectacular, but good enough to get another week to entertain you folks.  I’m still perplexed that I can’t do any better job of prognosticating the SIAC than I have.   I guess it could be worse, so I’ll just shut up and keep trying to get it right.

 

The Co-featured Games of Week Nine:

Albany St. vs Tuskegee in Tuskegee:

This is the game of the year in the SIAC.  This game is basically for all the marbles.  Whoever wins this game is in the driver’s seat for another SIAC championship.  These two programs have won the last six SIAC championships.  TU were champs in 2000, 2001, and 2002.  Albany St. was champs in 2003, 2004, and 2005.  We have a team in Tuskegee that’s capable of scoring a lot of points going up against an AlbSU team that doesn’t score a lot of points, but the defense doesn’t give up a lot of points, either.  AlbSU has had the more overall consistent play of the two teams.  The big question is which TU team is going to show up on Saturday?  Is it going to be the TU team that has been very convincing in its four victories, or the TU team that blew sizeable leads in both of its losses?  The fact that AlbSU has had trouble scoring points even against lesser competition should be a concern for the Ram faithful.  Unless the AlbSU offense scores more than they have been scoring this season, they are going to come out on the short end.  Home field advantage goes to TU on this one.  TU is looking to break a four game losing streak to AlbSU.  TU gets the job done in a close game.

 

Hampton vs SC State in Orangeburg:

 SCSU has once again been reincarnated into a living football program.  They are 2-0 since I pronounced them dead in this very same column a couple weeks ago.  Well, guess who’s coming to visit this weekend.  It’s those Hampton Pirates.  As we all know, Hampton has been the class of the MEAC thus far this season.  They have opened up a 2 ½ game lead over DSU and MSU.  They have won rather convincingly for the most part this season.  Of the remaining teams on Hampton’s schedule, SCSU represents the team that’s probably the most capable of being competitive with Hampton.  The one problem with this assessment is that being competitive with a team is not quite the same as being able to beat a team.  Even though SCSU has played better over the last couple of weeks, with a couple of convincing victories over NSU and FAMU, Hampton has just simply taken their game to a whole different level.  Some say that Hampton has been winning ugly over the last few weeks, but remember, it’s the end result that counts.  There lies the difference in this game.  However, if you think that Hampton is going to beat SCSU by double digits, it ain’t happening.  Hampton wins this game, but not by a real comfortable margin.  A Hampton victory just about solidifies another MEAC championship.  

  

SIAC GAMES

Kentucky St. vs Miles in Birmingham:

Talking about a toss-up.  We have two teams with identical overall records (4-3) and identical conference records (3-2) go up against each other.  In common opponents, both teams lost to AlbSU.  KySU had a convincing victory against Lane, while Miles lost to Lane by a point.  I say all of this to say that I’m giving Miles the nod because they are the home team and the fact that it’s Miles’ Homecoming. 

 

Benedict vs Ft. Valley St. in Ft. Valley:

Here we have a perennial SIAC powerhouse in FVSU that has gone in the tank this year.  Benedict hasn’t exactly set the woods on fire, either.  In any other year, FVSU would be a favorite in this game, especially being that it’s their homecoming.  The problem for the FVSU faithful is that this isn’t a typical year.  It appears that the last minute coaching change at FVSU has created more problems than it solved for the team.  Even though Benedict isn’t exactly hitting on all eight cylinders itself, they are playing a little better than FVSU.  I pick Benedict to pull off the upset.

 

Stillman vs Lincoln (MO) in Lincoln, MO:

I won’t even bore you discussing this one.  Stillman is a prohibitive favorite in this one!!!

 

Morehouse vs Clark-Atlanta in Atlanta:

This game is called the AUC Unity Day game.  Speaking of unity, you know, if both CAU and Morehouse merged their teams together, they might come up with team capable of challenging AlbSU and Tuskegee on a yearly basis, instead of once every 10-15 years as they do as separate outfits.  That’ll never happen in our, our children’s or grandchildren’s lifetimes so I won’t discuss that concept any further.  Back to the game, both schools have five victories between them, but CAU has been more competitive in their games than DaHouse has.   Jay Thomas, things will get better for DaHouse, it just compels me as a friend to tell you that it won’t be this Saturday.  Add to the fact that this game is in CAU’s stadium, lets give the nod to CAU!

 

MEAC/SWAC GAMES

Florida A&M vs Norfolk St. in Norfolk:

Another toss-up game.  Both teams have identical overall records, with FAMU having a ½ game lead over NSU in the conference standings.  At this point, there are no national championship or conference implications for either team.  A couple of weeks ago, I’d say that this would be NSU’s year to finally beat FAMU, but now I’m not quite as sure.  Even though NSU has been blasted over the last couple of weekends, they are still an improved program.  NSU and FAMU have one common opponent in SCSU.  NSU will one day break through against FAMU, but it won’t be this weekend.

 

Delaware St. vs Morgan St. in Baltimore:

Yet another toss-up game with both teams sporting identical records in the conference.  MSU has won 4 out of its last 5 games after a shaky start.  DSU has only two losses.  This is a fairly even match-up, but my gut feeling says DSU in a close game.

 

Howard vs NCA&T in Greensboro:

“Aggie Born, Aggie Bred, when I die, I’ll be Aggie Dead”, would be a fairly appropriate cheer for this year’s A&T squad, with the emphasis on the Aggie Dead part.  Howard has been in all of its games, save the Rutgers and the Hampton games.  A&T has been blown out of all of its games except for last week’s game against DSU.  This has turned out to be a serious rebuilding year for the Aggies.   Even though it’s homecoming, I see Howard getting its second victory.

 

Winston-Salem St. vs Savannah St in Savannah:

Well, SSU finally won a game.  I think ssutigerfan’s party is still going on somewhere in Southeast GA.  Just save me some ribs, baked beans, potato salad, and a Heineken.  Unfortunately, the celebration will be short lived.  WSSU may not score any points, but SSU won’t either.  Even in losing, WSSU is gaining the respect of the MEAC.  With a little offense, they would have a couple more victories on their ledger. WSSU wins.

 

Jackson St. vs Grambling in Grambling, LA:

A lot of people thought I was crazy when I said that Comegy would win five to six games.  Guess who’s sitting here having the last laugh.  Believe it or not, JSU and AAMU are the only two SWAC teams playing .500+ ball in the SWAC.  Judging from the quality of ball (or lack thereof) that the SWAC has played this year, it’s not a far-fetched possibility of JSU running the table the rest of the way.  “Taking it one game at a time”, as Coach Comegy would say, they will take one more step in their miracle turnaround of JSU and knock Grambling off this weekend.