OPINION: FAMU alum Tiffany Greene and Howard alum Jay Walker, who will be calling the game together on Saturday, engage in a little friendly pre-game trash talk as their alma maters go head to head for the Black national title.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more
Objectively speaking, the 11-1 Rattlers should win this game, though I’m pulling for (you know) the Bison. FAMU is No. 5 in the FCS Coaches Poll and boasts the nation’s second-best defense in terms of yards (267) and points (14.25) allowed per game. Howard doesn’t have many statistical advantages but it hails from the MEAC, which is 6-1 against the SWAC since the Celebration Bowl’s inception in 2015.
Regardless of what happens, the pomp and pageantry of an HBCU title match beats the meh of a first-round game in the FCS playoffs. Like Greene and Walker, initially, I was skeptical when the SWAC and MEAC spurned automatic playoff bids and committed their champs to the Celebration Bowl instead. But now it’s a no-brainer.
Celebration Bowl participants end the seasons on national TV, in Atlanta’s NFL stadium with more than 40,000 fans in attendance. HBCUs in the playoffs typically end their season after one game in a pedestrian outpost with no splash and few spectators. Greene and Walker were sold on the Celebration Bowl after its debut when North Carolina A&T halfback Tarik Cohen was so impressive (295 yards rushing with three touchdowns) that the Chicago Bears drafted him in the fourth round.
Greene, the sideline reporter that year, was blown away by the aftermath. “Everybody was talking about North Carolina A&T,” she said. “It became an easily recognizable brand simply because of that one game, on ABC, on a Saturday at noon. No exposure in the playoffs has brought that same kind of acclaim to an HBCU program.”
Walker, who has playoff experience on the field and in the booth, was “definitely a playoff guy” prior to 2015. “But now it’s not even close,” he said. “It’s the Celebration Bowl. This thing is phenomenal in terms of what it brings together. It has become the go-to event on the HBCU calendar. More people watch it than any game out there. Everybody wants to get there.”
FAMU and Howard are making the trip for the first time, two fan bases bringing their unique flavor to the ATL.
One announcer will be thrilled at the end.
The other will have to hear about it for at least 365 days.
The Celebration Bowl airs Saturday at noon ET on ABC.
Deron Snyder, from Brooklyn, is an award-winning columnist who lives near D.C. and pledged Alpha at HU-You Know! He’s reaching high, lying low, moving on, pushing off, keeping up, and throwing down. Got it? Get more at blackdoorventures.com/deron.
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