CIAA grid title game staying in Durham
The CIAA Football Championship Game will return to Durham and North Carolina Central University on Saturday, November 6, the league announced last week. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
This will be the fifth time since 2000 that the CIAA will match the Eastern and Western Division Champions to decide the championship on the field. Having hosted the game in 2000, this will be the third time that the Championship Game will be played on the Durham campus.
"We believe Durham and North Carolina Central are the perfect hosts for the 2004 CIAA Football Championship," CIAA Commissioner Leon Kerry stated. "With the outstanding support the citizens of the Triangle showed us last year, we are looking forward to another exciting Championship Game."
"North Carolina Central University is pleased to serve as host of the 2004 CIAA Football Championship Game," NCCU Chancellor James H. Ammons said. "We are proud of our history in hosting this championship event for three of the past five contests, and we look forward to welcoming the fans of the CIAA to our campus."
This year's title game will be televised in the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville market live on WRAZ Fox 50.
Last year's championship game at NCCU saw Fayetteville State repeat as conference champ with a come-from-behind 23-19 win. The Broncos, under head coach Kenny Phillips, are looking to become only the second team in CIAA football history to win three consecutive league titles. FSU defeated Bowie State (17-14) to win the school's first-ever title in 2002.
Since the Eastern-Western Divisional format was put in place in 2000, CIAA regular season attendance has moved to third among Division II Conferences, up from fifth in 2001. Also, the CIAA has undergone expansion by adding two new football members from its current league membership (St. Augustine's in 2002 and Shaw in 2003).
The CIAA originally began the divisional championship game format in 1970 and in the first college football conference championship game, Virginia State defeated Johnson C. Smith, 32-14. Beginning with that game, the northern and southern division champions squared off and played a championship game until 1973. The format returned in 1981 and continued until 1990. The Conference realigned into Eastern and Western Divisions in 1997 and prior to 2000, determined the champion by overall conference winning percentage.
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