This week’s HBCU Football Rundown focuses on three teams that won games Saturday that clinched berths in their respective conference championship games coming up on Nov. 12.
One team did not.
HBCU Football Rundown: SIAC Championship game set
By virtue of winning the East title, the Tigers of second-year head coach Chennis Berry will host the Nov. 12 SIAC Championship Game on campus in Columbia, S. C.
Benedict’s opponent will be West Division champion Tuskegee (7-2, 6-0 W). The Golden Tigers under first-year head coach Reginald Ruffin defeated Kentucky State 28-7 to take the West crown.
SIAC: Plenty to play for at season’s end
In the closeout week to the SIAC regular season, traditional in-state rivalries take center stage. The outcomes of several of these games carry NCAA Div. II playoff implications.
Benedict, up to No. 12 in the d2football.com poll and ninth in the AFCA Div. II Coaches Poll, closes with a date vs. Allen (1-6, 0-5 E). The game is set for the Yellow Jackets home field at Westwood High School in Blythewood, S. C.
Tuskegee, has its traditional season-ending date vs. Miles (1-8, 1-5 W) in the Golden Tigers’ homecoming.
Albany State (7-2, 5-1 E) has a key game vs. Fort Valley State (7-2, 4-2 E) in their annual Fountain City Classic in Columbus, Ga. (2 p.m.). Albany State is still alive and needs a win to stay alive for an NCAA Div. II playoff bid.
The Golden Rams enter this week ranked eighth in NCAA Div. II Super Region Two. Benedict is currently second in the region. Tuskegee is seventh. Seven teams from the region make the playoff field.
Next door neighbors Morehouse and Clark Atlanta close out their seasons Saturday at the Maroon Tigers’ B. T. Harvey Stadium (2 p.m.). Morehouse (0-9, 0-6 E) will be trying to avoid its first winless season since an 0-11 finish in 1999.
SIAC GAMES THIS WEEK
HBCU Football Rundown: The unfinished CIAA race
In the CIAA, Fayetteville State and head coach Richard Hayes Jr., clinched their fifth straight South Division crown with a 28-20 win over Shaw. They have to wait another week to find out their opponent in the Nov. 12 CIAA title game in Salem, Va.
That’s because previously undefeated and nationally-ranked North Division leader Virginia Union lost its bid to win the N. Div. on its home field Saturday to Chowan, 26-21. That outcome means the N. Div. title will be decided this week.
The North Division title will be determined on the final Saturday of the regular season in one of three ways.
Chowan (6-3, 6-1 N), under second-year head coach Mark Hall, is hosting Elizabeth City State (2-7, 2-5 N) at 1 p.m. in Murfreesboro, N. C. A Chowan win gives it the berth opposite Fayetteville State in next Saturday’s (Nov. 12) championship game in Salem, Va.
Virginia Union (8-1, 6-1 N) travels to Ettrick, Va. Saturday to face rival Virginia State (6-3, 5-2 N) at 12 noon. A Chowan loss and VUU win gives the division title and championship berth to VUU.
If both Chowan and VUU lose, Chowan takes the division title and championship game berth by virtue of its head-to-head win over VUU.
CIAA: D2 playoff implications
The results of games Saturday and over the next two weeks will have a bearing on which teams from the NCAA Div. II Super Region Two make the seven-team playoff field.
Fayetteville State closes out its regular season with a date at Winston-Salem State ((3-5, 3-3 W) Saturday (4 p.m.). Heading into action this week, Virginia Union is fifth in the region and Fayetteville State is tenth.
CIAA Games This Week
