This weekend, we had two banner events. College football started off with a bang (and an occasional clap of thunder). Jackson State went to Starkville to take on Mississippi State in both teams’ season opener. It was the first meeting of an SEC school and a SWAC school in college football. The Braves of Alcorn State went to visit Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.
The result of both games was both football and financial success. Though the scoreboard didn’t show it, both games were actually pretty entertaining. Both games were absolute sellouts with fans from all over the state attending both games. A lot of these kids that grew up together and went to different conference schools and never dreamed they’d get to play college football against each other got to do it.
To have two Historically Black College/Universities (HBCU’s) get to play two in-state, major conference opponents on the same day, have full sellouts and good games is good for college football, but more importantly it’s good for Mississippi. For programs like USM and MSU that might like to schedule major non-conference opponents (like a Texas or USC) only to get told that they’re not going to be given a shot to do so, it’s good to see both AD’s put their money where their mouth is and give smaller non-conference opponents a shot at them.
Though I wouldn’t want to watch lopsided football like this every week, I do think this is something that these and other schools should do annually. Based on fan response, I’ll bet we’ll see it again. My hope is that one day, we’ll see it in Jackson.
Magnolia Tribune
