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On Sunday afternoon, I did something exceedingly rare for a blustery February day: I sat down on my couch and flipped on a professional football game.

No longer are our long winters constricted to just basketball and soccerball. Thanks to the new Alliance of American Football, there is now football ready to fill our HD TV screens year round, or at least through the next few months. What was formerly a pigskin desert is now an oasis!

Well, at least in theory. Because while the AAF kicked off last weekend, the Memphis Express, our local outfit, got off to a bit of a slow start, losing their opener 26-0 against the Birmingham Iron. I watched the whole game, and while it was so much fun to have football back in my life, the end result clearly wasn’t all that great.

Turns out, I wasn’t the only person who tuned in. The AAF’s debut on CBS outrated (sorta) the Thunder/Rockets game that aired on ABC. Of course, a lot of that may have been first-time viewers tuning in to see what this league was about, and sustaining/building that nascent audience will be a challenge going forward. The XFL debuted to huge ratings, and eventually tapered out. (By the way, the XFL is returning next year! Probably without He Hate Me.)

Anthony Morris #77 of the Memphis Express protects quarterback Christian Hackenberg #14 during an Alliance of American Football game against the Birmingham Iron at Legion Field on February 10, 2019 in Birmingham, AL. Photo by Joe Robbins / AAF via Getty Images.

This all makes me wonder if football’s current popularity is at least in part because there has always been an offseason? Maybe the reason we so voraciously consume football each fall is because we haven’t been able to have it during the spring and summer. This runs counter to the way the world mostly works these days, since we live in an age of on-demand, instant gratification. Will having football more available make it less precious?

Then again, it’s not like the NFL has gone to a year-long schedule. After the Super Bowl, that league disappears until “Hard Knocks” brings us back in August. Which makes the real question this: Will the allure of getting to watch football year-round outweigh that the quality of play isn’t as good in the AAF as the NFL? Because while you can knock the NFL on a variety of issues, from their handling of social issues to their enforcement of the rules, you can’t deny that the best football players in the world play in the NFL.

For now, the AAF can offer some fun stories of players searching for redemption. The Arizona Hotshots, for instance, were led by a banker named John Wolford, who threw for 275 yards and four touchdowns. The Express feature Zac Stacy, who had a promising NFL career derailed by injuries, and quarterback Christian Hackenberg, a former second-round pick of the New York Jets.

I have no idea about the AAF’s financial situation and long-term sustainability.

I don’t know if it was first-week jitters or what, but I’m going to give the Express another chance. They’re the only pro football team around, so what other choice do we have? Best-case scenario, head coach Mike Singletary gets this thing turned around and the Express start collecting wins. Worst case scenario, well, at least it’s still football in February.

I want to watch some guys throw and catch the ball, burst through the line and run for a score, or sack the quarterback and strip the ball on the way down. I want to be entertained, with football as the medium. And if the AAF can pull that off?

Maybe we’ll be enjoying winter and spring football for a while.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Memphis Grizzlies. All opinions expressed by Lang Whitaker are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Memphis Grizzlies or its Basketball Operations staff, owners, parent companies, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Memphis Grizzlies and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.

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Lang’s World: Football year-round? Sign Me Up

The best thing about this year’s College Football Playoff is that it has proven plainly that the College Football Playoff needs to change. At least, if you want to have some fun.

For so many years, the college football champ was crowned via consensus, while the belief was nearly unanimous among college football fans that some sort of playoff system was needed. Instead of having a bunch of writers and coaches vote on which team was best, why not let the teams actually play against each other and figure out who’s best by playing head to head? College football is a competition, right? Why can’t they compete for the title?

Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts (2) celebrates with Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman Raekwon Davis (99) and fans after the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl between the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers on January 1, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, LA. Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.

Now if you didn’t know, committees are what behemoth corporations use when confronted with an issue for which they don’t have an answer. Because with a committee, you can get a whole bunch of voices in a room and throw a lot of opinions into the air and obfuscate the real issue in the name of getting something done. A camel is a horse by committee. The College Football Playoff that we have right now is a playoff by committee.

After much deliberation and consternation, at some point the NCAA ruled that what we needed was a four-team college football playoff. Because a four team playoff is better than a no team playoff, right?

Perhaps we should be thrilled that we’re getting any kind of playoff. Sure, Alabama thrashed Oklahoma while Clemson crushed Notre Dame to set up Monday’s Alabama-Clemson title game, but everyone knew that was going to happen. The point of a playoff, especially with one-game series, should be that anything can happen. I’d love to see something wild happen, an upset, David beating Goliath. I think we’d all like to see that.

But the College Football Playoff is not designed for that to happen. March has madness because there are 64 teams and a ton of games. A three game playoff that’s a series of one game battles doesn’t really allow for that to occur.

Clemson Tigers running back Travis Etienne (9) rushes the ball during the Allstate Sugar Bowl between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers at the Mercede-Benz Superdome in New Orleans Louisiana, on January 1, 2018. Photo by John Korduner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.

How are the four teams selected for the College Football Playoff? You guessed it, a committee decides who gets in. Which is how we ended up with two blowouts in the first two games. Did Notre Dame and Oklahoma have a case for getting in? Sure. Were they the third- and fourth-best teams in the country? No, they weren’t.

Whatever the method, here we are, with the two best teams in college football—the same two teams everyone picked five months ago—set to play for the title. There’s also the matter of two schools located a few hundred miles apart playing against each other for their biggest game of the year in balmy Santa Clara, CA, each about 2,500 miles from home.

As for the game itself, I think Alabama is going to win. Clemson is really good and has enough firepower to make it interesting, but Alabama is a dynasty operating at the peak of its powers. Clemson should keep it close for a while, but eventually, Alabama will prevail. Which is probably what most of us expected anyway.

I hope something fun happens in the Championship game, but I’m guessing we aren’t surprised. After all, that’s the way this is all set up to happen. Maybe one day things will get a little more interesting.

Until then? I guess we should just be happy with what we’ve got.

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Lang's World: Why the College Football Playoff needs to change

Memphis Grizzlies

ATLANTA – The beginning ended up being the end.

North Carolina A&amp;T concludes the 2018 HBCU football season where it began as the No. 1 team in both the BOXTOROW Coaches and Media Polls following last Saturday's 24-22 victory over Alcorn State in the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl.

The Aggies, who finished 10-2, received every first place vote in both national HBCU polls.

North Carolina A&amp;T Aggies wide receiver Elijah Bell #13 scores a touchdown against Alcorn State Braves in the second quarter of the Celebration Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 15, 2018 in Atlanta, GA. Photo by Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports.

This is Sam Washington’s first national championship as head coach at N.C. A&amp;T in his first season since being promoted to replace Rod Broadway. Washington was named BOXTOROW Coach of the Year last week and also named MEAC Coach of the Year. The Aggies have now won HBCU national championships in 2018, 2017 and 2015. Washington was defensive coordinator for the first two titles.

“It’s important to our program to play in the postseason, (and) it is cream on top when you win in the postseason and you win the Celebration Bowl,” Washington said. “It is a well-deserved honor for this program and these young men. We fought through a lot of adversity this year.”

The Aggies were ranked atop the polls for a majority of the season with the exception of two weeks, after losses to Morgan State and Florida A&amp;M by a combined total of four points. The Aggies never fell below No. 2 and regained the top spot in Week 10 with a win over Norfolk State, coupled by then-No. 1 Florida A&amp;M’s loss to Howard. N.C. A&amp;T never relinquished its top spot in the national polls afterwards.

The Celebration Bowl pitted the consensus top two teams among Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the game didn’t disappoint. The MEAC champion Aggies led 17-6 after dominating the first half, but the SWAC champion Braves rallied in the second half until N.C. A&amp;T sealed it by running out the clock on the game’s final drive to preserve the two-point victory.

Senior quarterback Lamar Raynard passed for 292 yards and two touchdowns to win Celebration Bowl MVP honors, and capped his career by leading the Aggies to a 34-2 record as a starter. Alcorn State, which finished 9-4, outgained the Aggies 451-324 in total yards but couldn’t overcome a sluggish first half or a controversial “no-catch” ruling on a two-point conversion late in the game.

“We didn’t execute the way we should have in the first half, but in the second half we made some adjustments and played a lot better,” Braves coach Fred McNair said. “It just came down to a two-point conversion we thought was a catch. As hard as these young men played, for it to come down to a play like that is (tough). But we played a great football team. Give them credit. We’ll learn from this.”

Alcorn State finished second in the Boxtorow national polls and SWAC runner up Southern was third.

The BOXTOROW HBCU FCS coaches poll and the media poll is administered by FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW. The coaches poll is voted on by the HBCU Football Championship Subdivision coaches, and the media poll is voted on by media members around the country who cover HBCU football.

“The rewards of winning that type of game extend to other honors like winning the BOXTOROW title again,” Washington said. “BOXTOROW does an excellent job of highlighting black college football, so we’re proud to have this honor.”

Having won four MEAC titles and three Celebration Bowl national championships over the past five seasons, it’s safe to assume the Aggies haven’t had to rebuild in a long time. But coach Sam Washington must replace perennial All-Conference stars in QB Lamar Raynard, RB Marquell Cartwright, OL Micah Shaw and return specialist Malik Wilson among others. N.C. A&amp;T is always prepared to reload, but next season’s path through the MEAC will be treacherous.

There is absolutely no shame in losing on a controversial 2-point conversion call to arguably the best team in modern HBCU football history. But those aren’t comforting words right now to Braves coach Fred McNair or QB Noah Johnson. The good news is that Johnson, the SWAC offensive player of the year, and RB De'Shawn Waller, the SWAC newcomer of the year, return with a shot to continue the Braves’ SWAC East dominance. They should be favored to make it back to Atlanta.

After a tough stretch of NCAA issues that led to scholarship sanctions a few years back, coach Dawson Odums showed he’s finally got the Jaguars firmly headed in the right direction. Beating in-state rival Grambling in the Bayou Classic and getting to the SWAC title game have now set next season's expectations much higher for Southern. With QB Ladarius Skelton ready to build on a remarkable finish after taking over midseason, the Jaguars should hit the ground running in 2019.

The Wildcats proved to be capable of knocking off the best, yet losing to just about anyone in 2018. But coach Terry Sims talked about raising the bar after ending the season with an impressive win streak, capped by a victory over Florida A&amp;M that knocked his in-state rival out of a MEAC title. Can the Wildcats move beyond spoilers and become true title contenders next year? The MEAC/SWAC Challenge against Jackson State to open the 2019 season will be a telling next step.

The MEAC and SWAC have dominated the HBCU polls as the lone conferences playing at the FCS level. But graduating senior QB Amir Hall elevated Division II Bowie State into the discussion of HBCU’s elite teams with a record-setting four-year run as one of the most prolific players the NCAA has seen on any level. The Bulldogs will have huge shoes to fill after losing the CIAA’s career leader in passing yards and TDs. But their success with Hall should have a huge impact on recruiting.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Memphis Grizzlies. All opinions expressed by Michael Wallace are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Memphis Grizzlies or its Basketball Operations staff, owners, parent companies, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Memphis Grizzlies and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.

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MikeCheck: And another one - Aggies repeat as HBCU national champs, finish first in final polls after third Celebration Bowl win in four years

MEMPHIS – The two most accomplished and dominant Black College football teams in the country will enter Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for Saturday's Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl.

One will emerge as the 2018 HBCU national champion.

Those are the stakes when Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference winner North Carolina A&amp;T (9-2) meets Southwestern Athletic Conference titlist Alcorn State (9-3) Saturday on ABC to kick off the national bowl schedule. Here are five things to know about the programs and the game entering the epic showdown.

I wrote last week why playing in the Celebration Bowl was more beneficial for N.C. A&amp;T, which could have otherwise done plenty of damage in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs that reach the semifinal round also on Saturday. Basically, it boils down to economics and exposure.

The ESPN-run Celebration Bowl reportedly pays out $1 million each to the MEAC and SWAC, with $500,000 apiece going to N.C. A&amp;T and Alcorn State. While majority of the three dozen bowl games are televised on secondary national networks, the Celebration Bowl gets marquee treatment in ABC’s opening slot.

In a sense, both the Aggies and Braves have seen their respective year come full circle. N.C. A&amp;T beat Grambling in last year’s Celebration Bowl to cap the program’s first 12-0 season, and is back to defend its HBCU national title. The Aggies have essentially made Atlanta their second home, with this marking the third time in the Bowl’s four-year history that they’ve participated.

A pair of upset losses at home on field goals to Morgan State and Florida A&amp;M are the only blemishes on a regular-season run that saw N.C. A&amp;T knock off perennial FCS power Jacksonville State in the opener and also upset FBS’s East Carolina. This is the Aggies’ fourth MEAC title in five years.

“When I got the job, I wasn’t given the keys to a (beat-up) Volkswagen,” said first-year Aggies coach Sam Washington, the MEAC coach of the year. “I was given the keys to a very fine football team.”

Not a day passes without Alcorn State coach Fred McNair referring to how much his team has grown since their last trip to Atlanta, which resulted in a 41-0 loss in the season opener at Georgia Tech. The Braves regrouped quickly and marched to their fifth consecutive SWAC East Division title.

They also had an encouraging showing by putting up 42 points in a road loss at FBS independent New Mexico State late in the season. A 28-25 loss in five overtimes on Oct. 6 against Alabama State was Alcorn State’s lone setback to an FCS and conference opponent this season. The Braves punched their ticket to Atlanta with a 37-28 win over Southern in the Dec. 1 SWAC championship game.

“It feels amazing,” quarterback Noah Johnson said of making the Celebration Bowl. “We weren’t going to be denied. I’m sorry. I don’t care who walked into this building, we weren’t going to be denied.”

These teams comprise a ‘Who’s Who’ of all-conference teams and FCS All-Americans. For Alcorn State, it starts with Johnson, the SWAC offensive player of the year and a dual-threat QB who is one of the most efficient signal-callers in the nation. Under the tutelage of former West Virginia University star and current Braves’ quarterback coach Pat White, Johnson took his game to another level. He’s accounted for 3,039 yards and 24 touchdowns this season. Tailback De’Shawn Waller was the SWAC’s newcomer of the year after rushing for 1,048 yards and 12 TDs.

Alcorn State is equally as dominant on defense, anchored by linemen Terry Whittington and Sterling Shippy. They fortify a unit that ranked first in FCS in sacks and tackles for losses, and were top six in rushing defense and total defense.

Senior QB Lamar Raynard won his first 29 games as the starter before his streak was snapped earlier this season. But there’s not a more proven and experienced winner at the position in the FCS ranks. Senior tailback Marquell Cartwright, fresh off back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, is the engine that drives an offense that topped 300 rushing yards twice this season behind FCS First-Team All-American offensive lineman Micah Shaw. Much like their upcoming opponent, the Aggies' most impactful stars just might be on the defensive side.

MEAC defensive player of the year and FCS First-Team All-American Darryl Johnson led the league in sacks (10.5) and tackles for loss (18.5). Mac McCain III is one of the best cover cornerbacks in the country, and return specialist Malik Wilson has run back three kickoffs for TDs this season on returns of 100, 99 and 98 yards.

The Aggies and Braves have combined to send more than 80 players to the NFL. N.C. A&amp;T’s alumni roster of NFL standouts includes Chicago Bears breakout tailback Tarik Cohen, who is in the midst of an All Pro season. The Aggies also boast Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Elvin Bethea and lineman Dwaine Board, who won four Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s.

The Braves have a long list of NFL contributors, most notably Super Bowl champion receiver Donald Driver of the Green Bay Packers and the late Steve McNair, the Tennessee Titans' All-Pro quarterback who was a younger brother of Alcorn State’s current head coach. Driver and Steve McNair were nominated for induction with the latest class of Hall of Fame candidates.

To suggest these are two evenly-matched teams would be a major understatement. They both can win shootouts or dominate with defensive shutouts. Both have elite running games and are great defensively against the run. They both have NFL-bound pass rushers.

The Aggies aim to cap one of the best five-year runs in NCAA football history, while the Braves are hungry to avenge a 2014 Celebration Bowl loss to the Aggies and complete a breakthrough championship season. The difference on this stage will be experience. The Braves are understandably happy to finally get back to Atlanta. The Aggies see it as another business trip. A slight edge goes to N.C. A&amp;T’s big-play defense and special teams.

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MikeCheck: 5 things to know about the Celebration Bowl as Aggies, Braves clash for HBCU national title

If you are a Memphis Tigers football fan, what is it that you want?

Before we get to the answer, in this case we need to examine the question, which is self-explanatory, really: What’s the goal?

This is also a good catch-all consideration for life, I suppose, but more than that it’s important for University of Memphis football fans to consider, particularly at this point in time.

I moved to Memphis one year ago, right as Tigers football was sizzling at a fever pitch. To be honest, I previously hadn’t been paying much more than cursory attention. Sure, I grew up in Atlanta and went to the University of Georgia, but Memphis football throughout the ‘90s and ‘00s did not demand much of my time. It wasn’t until Justin Fuente led the 2014 Tigers to a 10-3 record and a top 25 spot that the Tigers butted into my radar, and even then it was mostly in the context of Fuente as this popular young coach who might get hired elsewhere.

Since then, Fuente did get hired elsewhere and Memphis has remained consistently really good. They finished 9-4 in 2015, 8-5 in 2016, 10-3 in 2017, and 8-5 this season, and they’ve played in a bowl game for five years running. They replaced Fuente with a different offensive-oriented coach, Mike Norvell, who is consistently mentioned as one of the best young coaches in the country, and they have cool uniforms and a shiny new locker room.

By almost any measure, the University of Memphis football team can be quantified as a success.

Well, all of this brings us back to my original question: What do you want? What do Memphis football fans want?

Do Memphis fans want to finish a few games above .500 and go to a bowl game every season? Or do you want to be better than that? And realistically, considering Memphis isn’t in a Power 5 conference, how can they finish a season any better than that?

As I see it, there are two reasonable foreseeable futures that Memphis football fans can entertain...

Like I said earlier, would finishing each season with a plus-.500 record (going something like 8-5 or 9-4) and going to a bowl game really be so bad? To me this seems like the most reasonable goal, especially if you factor in the very real constraints on the program.

Mike Norvell, head coach of the Memphis Tigers raises the AAC West Division trophy with his players against the Houston Cougars during the second half on November 23, 2018 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, TN. Memphis defeated Houston 52-31 to win the AAC West Division. Photo by Joe Murphy via Getty Images.

Winning at a Power 5 school is hard enough; Memphis has now been good enough long enough that sustaining this level of winning, while certainly not easy, should be at least achievable. The program has been fundamentally altered and a new blueprint is in place. You’re a victim of your own success to a certain extent, stuck in an HR loop, as hiring promising young coaches gives them a chance to show what they can do and how they can succeed, but it also makes them attractive, affordable candidates for bigger schools.

But such is life. As long as Memphis is in the American Athletic Conference, it’s going to take a Flemish Cap-worthy perfect storm to shoehorn themselves into the BCS picture, and even then going undefeated doesn’t promise anything, as UCF showed us last season.

So as long as the status quo is what it is, maybe the status quo isn’t so bad? Memphis may never win a title, but maybe they can win more than they lose and muck it up for others?

Or maybe the status quo is not enough. Maybe you believe that Memphis deserves every chance to compete on that very highest level, and that there’s no way they get that chance unless something dramatic happens. So you go big or go home.

Which means Memphis has to find a way into a Power 5 conference. Which is easier said than done. They tried to make a move to the Big 12 a few years ago, and couldn’t even get an invite to the listening party. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen one day, but if does it’s gonna take a magical bolt of lightning that nobody sees coming right now.

From what I can tell, most Memphis fans reside in some limbo between the two choices. They want to keep winning, of course, but they also understand that the way the system is set up now, they realistically don’t have a fair shot at winning the College Football Playoff, which is why everyone is playing anyway.

As a UGA fan, I enjoyed watching UGA win more than they lost the last decade, and when UGA brought in Kirby Smart as an attempt to upgrade Mark Richt, it actually worked. And now UGA is at least in the title hunt each season. But for every Mark Richt, there’s a Bret Bielema or Bobby Petrino, who showed up to take a program to the next level and never got there.

For Memphis, the best bet is also basically the only bet. The status is the quo. They may not be able to win a title, but they can keep cranking out wins and helping their coaches move on to higher-profile gigs and at best keep putting the NCAA in an uncomfortable spot.

Maybe that’s good enough. Considering it’s the only viable option, I sure hope so.

And hey, you never know when lightning might strike.

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Lang's World: The future of Memphis Tigers football? It’s complicated

MEMPHIS – Considering the football résumé, it’s only natural to wonder.

When you’ve dominated Black College football the past half-decade like North Carolina A&amp;T has, it’s human nature to contemplate how far such a talented and special team might go in the national college football playoffs against top mainstream FCS competition.

Being the elite program in HBCU football ranks is one thing. Having a shot to emerge as the best FCS squad in the nation overall is quite another. It’s a juxtaposition N.C. A&amp;T coach Sam Washington juggles as the Aggies keep stacking Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships and Black College titles.

For the third time in four years, N.C. A&amp;T (9-2) is headed back to the ESPN-run Celebration Bowl in Atlanta and will face Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Alcorn State (9-3) on Dec. 15 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. At stake in the matchup between the consensus top two teams in the HBCU coaches and media polls are a solid payday and the title of Black College national champions.

That’s certainly a gratifying distinction.

On the same weekend the HBCU title will be decided in Atlanta, the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision – commonly referred to as the FCS – will wrap up the semifinal round of its 24-team national playoffs. The FCS national championship game is Jan. 5 in Texas.

“At this point, it’s our bowl game,” Washington said of the Aggies’ path to the Celebration Bowl as the MEAC’s qualifier. “Had we gone to the playoffs, I was looking forward to seeing how good we possibly could play, seeing exactly where we are when you think about the North Dakota States, the James Madisons, the powerhouses of FCS. That would have been a challenge as well. But this bowl game is so attractive, it’s almost impossible to turn down.”

The Aggies’ fate was basically out of their hands. Had Florida A&amp;M beaten rival Bethune-Cookman two weeks ago in the Florida Classic, the Rattlers would have won the MEAC outright and snagged the spot in the Celebration Bowl. In that case, N.C. A&amp;T would likely have received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs by virtue of a strong overall record.

Instead, FAMU lost to B-CU on the final weekend, which lifted N.C. A&amp;T to its fourth MEAC title in five seasons. The MEAC and SWAC are the nation’s lone two conferences competing at the FCS level. When it comes to the most influential programs in that group, the postseason preference is for the national payoffs rather than the national playoffs.

In addition to the exclusive national spotlight it offers, the Celebration Bowl guarantees $1 million each to the MEAC and SWAC. According to school officials, N.C. A&amp;T and Alcorn State each get $500,000 for the game and the remaining payout is split among conference schools. Both teams could earn more based on ticket-sale incentives.

HBCU administrators insist the exposure and earning potential from sending their top teams to the FCS playoffs pale in comparison to the one-game-and-done package of the Celebration Bowl, which is broadcast on ABC and officially kicks off the bowl season. Meanwhile, the Jan. 5 FCS title game is on ESPN2 at the end of a five-week tournament.

The MEAC does not hold a conference championship game, which theoretically opens the door for its second-place finisher to land a FCS at-large bid to the playoffs that start Thanksgiving weekend. The SWAC, however, not only generally holds a title game the first week of December, but its marquee regular-season matchup – the Grambling-Southern Bayou Classic – is locked in with broadcast partner NBC at the Superdome the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

So the combination of lucrative payouts, NFL stadium venues and national television exposure for three games in the span of a month – Bayou Classic, SWAC title game and Celebration Bowl – makes bypassing the FCS playoffs a worthwhile alternative for the top HBCU teams.

They’ve generally struggled to advance in the NCAA playoffs, but there have been notable exceptions.

This season is the 40th anniversary of FAMU’s team that beat Massachusetts for the 1978 national FCS title in what was then called the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. In 1994, Steve McNair made the cover of Sports Illustrated and put the final touches – and touchdowns – on his Heiman Trophy bid with a heroic performance in a playoff loss to Youngstown State. Five years later, FAMU reached the semifinals with a record-shattering passing offense.

The Aggies last made the playoffs three years ago with a dynamic team that featured tailback Tarik Cohen, now a rising star with the NFL’s Chicago Bears. If any HBCU team could have delivered a FCS playoff championship breakthrough, these senior-laden Aggies would have had as good a shot as any.

Lamar Raynard #7 drops back to pass during the bowl game between the North Carolina A&amp;T Aggies and the Grambling State Tigers on December 16, 2017 at Mercedes- Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.

They placed seven players on the All-Conference first team, including two-time 1,000-yard rusher Marquell Cartwright, MEAC offensive lineman of the year Micah Shaw and league sack leader Darryl Johnson. All three are projected NFL draft picks.

Along with quarterback Lamar Raynard, they form the core of a team that has gone 21-2 the past two years, including the program’s first 12-0 unbeaten mark in school history. Over the past five seasons, the Aggies have won four MEAC titles, upset three FBS-level teams on the road and won two HBCU national championships. This season, N.C. A&amp;T opened by beating perennial FCS postseason power Jacksonville State and finished the regular season ranked No. 11 in the FCS national poll.

“When I got the job, I wasn’t given keys to a (beat-up) Volkswagen,” said Washington, named MEAC coach of the year in his first season after being promoted to the head job. “I was given keys to a very fine football team. But it’s the (fifth-year) senior class we should focus on. They won a ’14 championship, ’15 championship, ’16 go to playoffs, ’17 championship. And now in ’18, we have a chance to go to another championship. I’m just proud to be a part of that.”

There’s not much more these Aggies need to prove. There’s no doubt about it. Another Celebration Bowl coronation would certainly cap one of the most remarkable runs by any team on any level.

The Braves relied on balance to hold off Southern for a 37-28 win in Saturday’s SWAC championship game. SWAC Player of the Year Noah Johnson snagged title game Offensive MVP honors, but it was De’Shawn Waller’s 177 rushing yards and eight sacks from one of FCS football’s most dominant defenses that closed the show and sent Alcorn State to Atlanta to play for an HBCU national title.    

Up next: Dec. 15 Air Force Reserves Celebration Bowl vs North Carolina A&amp;T

The Aggies will carry a four-game winning streak, the leadership of prolific quarterback Lamar Raynard and a rushing attack that averages nearly 200 yards a game into their Dec. 15 Celebration Bowl showdown against Alcorn State. It’s a matchup of the inaugural Celebration Bowl in 2015, which the Aggies won 41-34 on a 295-yard performance from current NFL tailback Tarik Cohen.  

Up next: Dec. 15 Air Force Reserves Celebration Bowl vs Alcorn State

Coach Dawson Odums’ Jaguars lost the SWAC championship game to Alcorn State but they clearly have gained the program’s next big star in quarterback Ladarius Skelton, who nearly single-handedly kept Southern in the game with four touchdowns. Skelton, who took over midseason as the starter, accounted for seven TDs in the season’s final two games with electrifying passes and scrambles.

The Wildcats placed seven players on the MEAC All-Conference first, second or third teams, including five standouts who will be returning next season for one of the league’s most dynamic squads. Anchoring B-CU’s honorees is redshirt junior defensive lineman Marques Ford, who finished second in the MEAC with 8.5 sacks, 10.5 tackles for losses and 42 total tackles last season. 

The accolades keep stacking for senior QB Amir Hall, named to the NCAA Division II All Region 2 team this week. Hall led the nation in passing, set conference career passing records for yards and TDs and is again a finalist for Division II National Player of the Year, Black College Football player of the year (Deacon Jones Trophy) and Offensive Player of the Year (Doug Williams Trophy).

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MikeCheck: Celebration Bowl-bound Aggies don’t need FCS playoffs to validate one of NCAA football's most remarkable runs

On Sunday morning the College Football Playoff committee announced this season’s College Football Playoff participants: Alabama; Clemson; Notre Dame; Oklahoma.

This brought an end to the championship aspirations of several teams, including the Ohio State Buckeyes, who won the Big 10 on Saturday night by thumping Northwestern, 45-21, finishing their season 12-1. It also ended any title hopes for the University of Georgia, who won the SEC East, lost the SEC Championship game against the number 1 overall team in Alabama, 35-28, and finished their season 11-2.

Instead of going for a title, my Dawgs will end their season by playing the Texas Longhorns in the Sugar Bowl. Which isn’t a terrible consolation prize, but it’s also not what UGA supporters were hoping for. After losing last season’s championship game (also to Alabama) in overtime, we just wanted another shot. And we got that chance. But that doesn’t mean we should have another shot at it, at least not right away.

I believe that the University of Georgia Bulldogs are one of the four best college football teams in the country.

At the same time, I do not think the University of Georgia Bulldogs deserve to be in the college football playoff.

These two statements can both be true. UGA can be one of the four best teams in the country without being one of the four remaining teams. As great as UGA has been this season, they’ve also never reached their full potential and haven’t played consistently great, championship-caliber football.

I knew UGA probably would not be able to beat Alabama, but going into the SEC Title game, I was basically just hoping UGA could somehow string together four quarters of good enough football to somehow sneak away with a win.

And they almost did! But here’s the thing about sports: Eventually you will be exposed for who you really are. You can use all the smoke and all the mirrors that you have, all the trick plays and gimmicks, but as the stakes increase, eventually your team will be found out.

Deandre Baker #18 of the Georgia Bulldogs breaks up a pass intended for Stephen Sullivan #10 of the LSU Tigers during the second half at Tiger Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images.

These Dawgs have some holes. We lost our two best offensive players (Nick Chubb and Sony Michel) from last season, the guys who took so much pressure off QB Jake Fromm and basically allowed him to be a game manager instead of forcing him to scramble and make things happen. UGA also entered this season having lost 8 starters from one of the best defenses in the country. And while they eventually rounded into form and became effective, they lacked that one player who could consistently disrupt opposing offenses.

As good as sophomore QB Jake Fromm has been, he has not yet shown that he’s good enough to win at the very highest level. (Which didn’t stop Gary Danielson from gushing about him on CBS for most of the game. I am a fan of both UGA and Fromm, but if Danielson said one more time that Fromm was “more than a game manager,” I was going to throw my hat at the TV.) Fromm is really good. We don’t know if he can be great.

UGA also wasn’t perfect on the sidelines on Saturday, or throughout the season. When you do something once, it can be written off as happenstance or an isolated instance. When you do it again and again, it is who you are. UGA’s offensive coordinator Jim Chaney ebbs and flows, and he’ll have periods where everything clicks, where he runs first and passes second and stays in manageable situations. But when Chaney regularly calls a jet sweep on short yardage, we know that’s just who he is.

If we are who we are when the chips are down, then who is Head Coach Kirby Smart? Because I still haven’t really wrapped my mind grapes around his fake punt call with the clock ticking down. With the score tied at 28 and a little over three minutes left to play, UGA was facing a fourth-and-11 around the 50-yard line. There was a simple yet wise decision waiting to be made: Punt the ball and make Alabama’s backup QB lead a drive the length of the field to get them into field goal range.

Instead, UGA hiked the ball to the upback, who in this case was backup QB Justin Fields. This ostensibly should have given the Fields the chance to make a play, except that Alabama was not fooled in the least. Something seemed to tip them off -- perhaps it was the fact that Fields had not been in on a punt play for THE ENTIRE SEASON? Whatever it was, the play was a disaster.

In many ways, that play was emblematic of the entirety of the Justin Fields experience this season. A five-star QB recruit who arrived just as Jake Fromm settled into the starting job, the Dawgs tried shoehorning Fields into games all season long, trotting him out for a direct snap and carry a few times a game, but Fields was used in a way to be the threat we needed him to become. The Chris Leak/Tim Tebow blueprint was sitting out there waiting to be copied, by Chaney or Smart or someone on UGA’s staff. But nope.

I have no problem with being aggressive and running a fake punt once or twice a season. My problem is doing it on 4th and 11 from the 50 with 3 minutes left to play in a tie game against the number one team in the country. UGA’s previous coach, Mark Richt, was so conservative he made Fox News seem left wing. His playcalling was boring, but it was generally effective. What we learned from watching Richt is that being consistently conservative will make you above average and win you 8-9 games a season, sometimes even 10 or 11. But it won’t win you a title. And after being a bridesmaid for the last 40 years, getting a title is where UGA wanted to be, even if it meant parting ways with a coach everyone liked.

Head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs reacts during the first half against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on October 13, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images.

Kirby Smart has only been the head coach for three seasons, and in that window he’s compiled a record of 32-9. UGA’s been to the SEC Championship each of the last two years, won it once, and Smart currently has the third-best recruiting class in the country coming in next season. By any metric, UGA is in a fantastic place going forward.

As for right now? All along, I felt it was unlikely UGA would return to the final four. UGA was really good this season. They averaged 39.2 points per game. They allowed 311 yards per game, good for 13th in the country. They played six teams ranked in the Top 25 and beat five of them. They led the number one team in the country by two touchdowns in the second half.

All of that wasn’t good enough. This season, UGA could never maintain being the very best version of themselves. With so many young players in key roles, UGA seems set up to be in a great place down the road.

But this is now. Flawed as they were this season, I still think UGA is one of the four best teams in the country. Could they beat the teams that are in the playoff? I think so.

Do they deserve to be in the playoff? Well, UGA twice as many games this season (2) as the four teams that made it lost combined (1). We played Alabama close, but we lost.

The difference between good and great might be razor-thin, but there definitely is a difference. UGA is good. Clemson is good, Oklahoma is good, Notre Dame is good.

Alabama is great. The Dawgs gave them their best shot, twice in the last year, and both times the Tide figured out a way to win.

A wise man once said, When you come at the king, you best not miss. UGA came at the king and missed, twice.

Until UGA shows that they have become definitively better than they are now, someone else deserves that chance at the number one spot.

Good luck, Clemson, OU and Notre Dame. Don’t miss.

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Lang's World: UGA shows they’re good, not great, not yet

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MEMPHIS – Turns out, Legion Field in Birmingham is available to host the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s football championship game on Saturday after all.

Alcorn State probably couldn’t care less.

The University of Alabama-Birmingham’s recent loss continues to be the Braves’ gain. As part of a contingency plan last month to avoid a potential conflict if UAB finished strongly enough to host the Conference-USA championship game, the SWAC relocated its own neutral-site title game from Legion Field to the campus of its league’s overall top finisher.

UAB, an FBS-level program, plays its home games at Legion Field. The Birmingham-based SWAC, one of only two leagues at the FCS level completely comprised of Black College football programs, has used Legion Field routinely for the conference’s football championship game.

Any potential scheduling conflict between UAB and the SWAC – the respective conference title games would have been played three hours apart at Legion Field – became a moot point when UAB lost last Saturday at Middle Tennessee State. Ironically, UAB and MTSU will play again this week in Murfreesboro in the C-USA championship game.

So, indirectly, Alcorn State leveraged the loophole.

Alcorn State beat Jackson State two weeks ago to win their fifth consecutive East division title. Photo by Alcorn State Sports Information.

Having clinched both the East division title and conference’s best overall record two weeks ago, Alcorn State (8-3) will remain right at home to face West division winner Southern University (7-3) in Lorman’s Jack Spinks Stadium for Saturday’s SWAC championship game.

The Braves got a taste two weeks ago of what Saturday’s atmosphere may resemble when they beat in-state rival Jackson State in front an overflow home crowd of 21,312 to clinch their fifth straight East title.

“It’s probably going to be 100 percent more (wild) than what it was even (that) weekend,” said Alcorn State coach Fred McNair, whose Braves have won nine of their past 10 home games. “But (the Alcorn-JSU game) kind of gets us into a mindset for what we think it’s going to be like at home and the people who are going to come to this (championship) game. These guys know the intensity and the magnitude of this ballgame. We’re excited about it and the kids are, too. But we still have to play a football game.”

It will be a matchup of familiar foes. Alcorn State and Southern finished 6-1 in SWAC play, but the Braves earned the right to host based on their 20-3 road win on Sept. 29 that spoiled the Jaguars’ homecoming weekend in Baton Rouge. But Southern has since won five straight games, buoyed by a midseason quarterback change and a strong defense that’s allowed an average of only 13 points a contest in that span.

In other words, Saturday’s title game features a matchup of the league’s hottest team in Southern and the conference’s most balanced squad in Alcorn State. The Braves rank first in the SWAC in both total offense and total defense. Meanwhile, the Jaguars are second in the league in both rushing offense and rushing defense.

When the teams met two months ago, Alcorn State dominated all three phases of the game to outgain Southern by a 381-139 margin in total yards. But since then, Southern has adjusted to a style that essentially mirrors Alcorn State.

Southern celebrates with the SWAC West division trophy after beating Grambling in last Saturday’s Bayou Classic. Photo by Southern University Athletics.

SWAC player of the year candidate Noah Johnson ranks 13th in the nation among FCS quarterbacks in completion percentage, and has accounted for 2,757 total yards and 22 touchdowns for Alcorn State. He’s a dual-threat catalyst of a ball-control offense that leads the SWAC in time of possession.

The Jaguars went on their recent run of success after coach Dawson Odums shifted to a similarly versatile quarterback in Ladarius Skelton, who has gained the bulk of his 1,268 total yards on the season over the past five games. Skelton has passed for nine touchdowns against just one interception, and he’s also rushed for five more scores and gained nearly 500 yards on the ground.

“I really think it’s just a team coming together and a coaching staff figuring out what we’re good at, then adapting our philosophy to meet the talent we have on the field,” Odums said of Southern’s late-season surge. “Defensively, we’ve been playing lights out and giving our offense some time to catch up. We made a quarterback switch that’s provided us some confidence and some excitement. People are going to try to make (Skelton) run the ball, but he’s a great passer and that’s given us an added dimension.”

Alcorn State didn’t see much of Skelton in the regular-season meeting, which is why McNair believes his team has no reason to be overconfident going into the game. During their off week, the Braves watched Skelton pass for 217 yards and three touchdowns on just eight completions in Southern’s 38-28 win over Grambling in last Saturday’s Bayou Classic to clinch the West division.

“We have to take the positives and gain from it, watch the film, grade it and see what they’re doing differently than they did the first time we played them,” McNair said of Southern. “We did some things to execute and they didn’t do some things so well. We took advantage of the opportunity we had. But coach Odums has gotten that team much better. It’s going to be a battle.”

The Jaguars have rallied from a shaky 2-3 start to a perfect 5-0 finish to get here.

“We’re just excited about how far our team has come and how we’ve grown,” Odums said. “I don’t think anybody predicted us at the start of the season to be right here. But at the end of the day, this is somewhere we’ve found ourselves.”

Saturday's winner advances to Atlanta to face Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference winner and defending HBCU national champion North Carolina A&amp;T in the Dec. 15 Celebration Bowl.

“Our coaches talked to them about doing the right things, not posting things on social media, making sure they’re not overconfident,” McNair said of his players. “That’s one thing you can easily get with a team you beat before – you can take it for granted. So now, you just get guys focused and get them back on ground level. The biggest thing is the growth of these young men. They’ve done a great job of being humble and mature. They’ve handled these situations.”

Due to equal parts fate, fortitude and a late-season tweak in the conference’s championship plans, Alcorn State can dictate terms from its own turf Saturday.

The Braves have won nine of their last 10 at home, and hope to extend that trend of dominance in Lorman when they host Southern for the SWAC championship. Alcorn coach Fred McNair knows plenty has changed about Southern since the Braves smothered the Jaguars 20-3 in Baton Rouge in September. Alcorn State should be well-rested after the SWAC's top offense and defense had two of the last three weeks off.  

All that’s left now for the Aggies is a date with the SWAC champion in the Dec. 15 Celebration Bowl. Meanwhile, the hardware keeps rolling in. N.C. A&amp;T placed seven players on the MEAC’s All-Conference first team, including 1,000-yard rusher Marquell Cartwright. Also, Sam Washington was named MEAC coach of the year in his first season after being promoted to guide the defending HBCU national champions.    

Up next: Dec. 15 Air Force Reserves Celebration Bowl vs Alcorn State/Southern U

The Jaguars got another balanced performance and jumped out to a 31-13 lead before holding on late to beat Grambling 38-28 in the 45th Bayou Classic. Ladarius Skelton passed for 217 yards and three TDs while tailback Devin Benn ran for 111 yards and another score as Southern ended a three-year drought in the annual rivalry that drew 67,871 fans to the Superdome in New Orleans.

Finishing second in the MEAC behind defending HBCU national champ N.C. A&amp;T for a second straight season underscores the Wildcats’ stability. Now it's time to take the next step. They carried a three-game winning streak into the offseason and played 12 consecutive weeks without a bye. With several key playmakers returning, including QB Akevious Williams and a solid defensive secondary, B-CU is on the rise.

Senior QB Amir Hall closes as the most prolific performer out of Bowie since award-winning songstress Toni Braxton. Hall’s career wrapped up with the Bulldogs’ loss last Saturday at top-five national seed Valdosta State in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. Hall exits as the CIAA’s career leader in passing yards and TDs while leading the program to its first ever playoff victory.

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MikeCheck: SWAC title game Saturday pits conference’s hottest team (Southern) against league’s most dominant squad (Alcorn St.)

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