Southern undisputed No. 1
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Southern (12-1), a last-second two-point loss to Alcorn State from a perfect 13-0 season, is the easy choice as the 2003 BCSP national champion.
Pete Richardson's Jaguars were the most efficient and dominant team all season long, downing No. 2 Grambling State 44-41, No. 3, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion North Carolina A&T, 35-16, and getting two wins including the SWAC Championship Game win over East Division champ, Alabama State, our fifth-ranked team.
The only team the Jaguars did not defeat in the top five was MEAC runner-up Bethune-Cookman (9-3), who finished fourth.
The Jags averaged over 41 points per game while winning their regular season games by a 28-point margin.
B-CC, the defending MEAC champ, started the season as the BCSP No. 1 and held it for six weeks until their loss at home to Morgan State.
Southern then took over at the top spot and held it for three weeks until their loss to Alcorn State.
Grambling, the defending SWAC and national champion, began the season at No. 2. The G-Men opened the season with a loss to Div. IA San Jose State and later lost to I-AA No. 1, McNeese State, but became the BCSP No. 1 following Southern's loss.
The Tigers held that position until their 44-41 loss to No. 2 Southern at the Bayou Classic that ended regular season play.
There were two big surprise teams in 2003, North Carolina A&T and Alabama State.
The A&T Aggies (10-3), under new head coach George Small, surprised everyone by running roughshod through the MEAC before a meaningless loss to South Carolina State to end the regular season. The Aggies got the automatic bid to the I-AA playoffs where they lost to Southern Conference champ, Wofford.
A&T was picked by conference coaches in the preseason to finish sixth coming off a 4-8 2002 record and the firing of longtime head coach Bill Hayes.
Alabama State (8-5) hired Coe on an interim basis on August 1 after a tumultuous summer of allegations that led to the suspension of head coach L. C. Cole.
Picked to finish fifth (see, last) in the SWAC's East Division, Coe led the Hornets to wins over Florida A&M to open the regular season, and over in-state rival Tuskegee to end it, and between led his troops to the division title eeking out Alabama A&M and Alcorn State and earning a spot vs. Southern in the SWAC Championship Game. In between, Coe missed two games with open heart surgery.
Albany State (10-2), who got its first SIAC title since 1997 and went on the win the Pioneer Bowl over CIAA champ Fayetteville State, begins the second five at No. 6. The Golden Rams are the only Div. II team in the Top Ten.
Alabama A&M (8-4), Hampton (7-4), S. C. State (8-4), Alcorn State (7-5) and Tennessee State (6-5), round out the final Top Ten.
© 2003 Azeez Communications, Inc.