Text Alert

2022-08-20 13:01:51 By : Ms. Emily chen

First and foremost, the article does not include any conversation about HBCU D-II or D-III football because the CIAA and the SIAC are alive and well so if you want to talk about the demise of HBCU football, we advise you to pay more attention to those leagues.

So back to the matter at hand...

The North Carolina A&T State University Aggies conference move from the Big South to the Colonial Athletic Association highlights something else in HBCU football scheduling and that's the hypocrisy of perspective when it comes to conference play and WHOM other HBCUs play with their out of conference games.

BUT, here's the truth about FCS HBCU scheduling, it's not as HBCU-ish as you might think, nor has it been for a while.

There has been much conversation about the Aggies' move to the Colonial Athletic Association but in reality the Aggies move highlights the revival of HBCU football and the scheduling that other HBCUs are doing to compete.

There is a contingent of those that lamented the Aggies' decision to join the Colonial Athletic Association thinking that it was bad for the heritage of HBCU football, but we've got news for those people, HBCU scheduling has never been 100% against other HBCUs.

In fact, in this day and age, HBCU football is intermingling with PWI football more than it ever has before and that's why we decided to analyze the myth of the "HBCU football experience" in its entirety.

The SWAC, with 12 teams, played an astonishing 20 games against PWI football teams in 2021.

Out of approximately 132 games the SWAC competed in, 15% of the games scheduled were against PWI football teams during last season.

Jackson State and head coach Deion Sanders are the outlier in the SWAC but they got destroyed by real competition outside the SWAC. Basically a whole lot of hype for a hype machine who hasn't really proven anything but being able to be a spectacle.

The 2021 SWAC's schedule starts off innocently enough with just 3 games against PWI football teams in Week 1 but then explodes with big name with PWIs in the likes of Southern Mississippi, University of South Florida, Baylor, Northwestern State, the University of Houston, South Florida, Central Arkansas, McNeese, Stephan F. Austin, South Alabama, and Louisiana-Monroe.

Things get turnt up after Week 1 and everybody plays for a check in Weeks 2 and 3 with a total of 14 games against PWI football teams in just a two week span.

The SWAC then cools off with just 2 PWI football games in Week 4 before they begin conference play in Week 5. The SWAC wasn't done with PWI football games for the season though, in Week 13 FAMU managed to get molly-wopped by Southeast Louisiana.

And then we've got the struggling MEAC conference.

The MEAC's schedule, with half the teams of the SWAC, highlights an even higher rate of games against PWIs in the 2021 football season.

Out of a possible 66 total conference games, the MEAC played 21 of those games against PWI football teams.

That's a 32% clip of games scheduled being against PWI football teams for the MEAC conference.

While the SWAC's schedule appeared to have a more coordinated effort of playing PWIs thanks to having more teams, the MEAC spaced their games against PWI football teams out over many weeks.

In Week 1, the MEAC played 3 PWI football teams. Week 2, that number jumped up to 6 and then in Weeks 4, 5 and 6 they played 3 PWIs each week. In weeks 6 and 7, the MEAC played another 3 PWI football teams. Conference play in the MEAC didn't even start until Week 8.

In Week 11 of the football season, Morgan State represented the MEAC against the worst team in the Colonial Athletic Association, Albany, and got smashed by multiple touchdowns.

Not quite done, the MEAC added one more game against a PWI football team in Week 12, just to end the season with a full schedule - they lost that game.

The percentage for out of conference games goes up when you include Division II schools played in each conference, but we aren't taking those games into consideration as they still contribute to the "HBCU" football experience and thusly, even if it's a beat down, it's in front of majority black people, we suppose.

Between both conferences, that's a total of a whopping 41 games against PWI football teams by the only two HBCU FCS Football conferences. The MEAC and the SWAC. 18 teams total.

So much for that myth of HBCU scheduling heritage. Today's HBCUs are very much in the business of playing who they can get on the schedule, sometimes just to fill the schedule.

But PWI games can be profitable. Some of these schools are waiting to have the check cut - and don't you get in the way - unless you're sending a few hundred thousand for athletic facility and equipment upgrades.

Meanwhile, the Aggies are playing 40% of their games each year against strategic, historic AND conference HBCU opponents, including a classic game with North Carolina Central University for the next 10 years to be held on the Aggie's campus and in Charlotte, NC at the Panther's NFL stadium.

Due to competition, the Aggies could simply no longer remain in the MEAC conference even though they have a high regard for the MEAC schools.

Many HBCU teams have tested the FCS waters to only find out that they were too expensive for their programs. It only took a couple of years for Winston-Salem State and Savannah State to bow out of the MEAC.

South Carolina State's entire institution was on the line recently. NCCU had to cut it's baseball program, a relatively cheap sport to support by most college standards. Not exactly a rock solid foundation for the MEAC.

These are the kind of issues that the Aggies have transcended as they aspire to reach unprecedented heights in HBCU athletics.

Worth noting, the MEAC may be looking into adding Virginia-Lynchburg, a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association, as they played 3 games against MEAC teams during the 2021 season.

Other teams playing multiple games against MEAC teams include the like of St. Francis, Sacred Heart, and Tennessee Tech.

Of course, for the SWAC and the MEAC, this all culminates in the Celebration Bowl played in Atlanta, GA at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. A bowl game that gives basically the minimum money for maximum exposure for ESPN.

The schedules of the HBCU FCS teams have many variants but many don't realize that schedules are developed years in advance. You can find A&T's future football opponents here.

But to summarize, for those worried about the Aggies playing HBCUs, the Aggies will play the following HBCUs over the next few years: Shaw University, North Carolina Central University, Norfolk State University, South Carolina State University, and Winston Salem State University.

This does not include conference games against Hampton University, a HBCU in the Aggies own conference but also one that is likely overlooked by those looking for HBCU competition because of Hampton's student population and alumni's disdain for travel to other HBCUs.

“While we will be fierce competitors on the playing field, we look forward to exploring many opportunities for mutually beneficial collaborations with our new conference colleagues.” said A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin.

So the Aggies will be playing plenty of HBCU football, but even more importantly, the Aggies will be playing competitive football against the likes of Duke, Elon, UAB, the Univ. of Georgia, Georgia State University, James Madison, and Furman for the coming years.

That's just the schedule as it stands now excluding exciting conference games against top ranked FCS opponents.

Speaking of conference opponents, this year, the CAA welcomes Hampton, the Aggies, Monmouth (last year's A&T homecoming opponent) and Stoney Brook. Stony Brook University is one of the top 66 research institutions in North America. As a CAA Football member since 2013, the Seawolves reached the FCS playoffs in 2017 and 2018.

Highlighting the logistics of moving to the CAA, Elon University is just 20 minutes away from the Aggies and the teams have established a local rivalry so Aggies should be used to that by now.

Now Elon becomes the Aggies conference opponent right down the street - pulling off what UNC-Greensboro Alumni could only dream of.

CAA Football’s membership will expand to 14 in 2023 with the addition of North Carolina A&T. They join University at Albany (Albany, N.Y.), University of Delaware (Newark, Del.), Elon University (Elon, N.C.), Hampton University (Hampton, Va.), University of Maine (Orono, Maine), Monmouth University (West Long Branch, N.J.), University of New Hampshire (Durham, N.H.), University of Rhode Island (Kingston, R.I.), University of Richmond (Richmond, Va.), Stony Brook University (Stony Brook, N.Y.), Towson University (Towson, Md.), Villanova University (Villanova, Pa.) and William & Mary (Williamsburg, Va.).

CAA Football has established itself as one of the nation’s premier FCS power conferences for more than a decade due to its on-field success, national exposure and the achievements of its student-athletes in the classroom, in the community and at the next level.

The league has had multiple teams in the playoffs for the past 31 years, three or more squads in the field for 14 of the past 16 seasons and at least one team in the semifinals for nine straight years. A CAA team has competed in the FCS national championship game in nine of the past 17 seasons.

The Aggies will become an official member of CAA Football starting on July 1, 2023 and the games have just begun.

HBCU football is alive and well but every team in every conference must test themselves to continue to improve themselves.

While the Aggies and the Pirates are pushing it the hardest, they both are leaving a blueprint for other HBCUs to follow.

And thusly, HBCU football will continue to advance and thrive so that they continue a long standing tradition of student athletes with big ambitions.

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