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Few Questions left for final month LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor Half of the CIAA title picture is complete, three teams are still alive for titles in the MEAC and SIAC, and SWAC division races appear headed for a down-to-the-wire finish. Here's how everything shapes up for the final month of the regular season. CIAA Winston-Salem State (7-2, CIAA W) sewed up a second straight CIAA West Division title and guaranteed a shot at a third consecutive conference championship with a 17-0 win over Johnson C. Smith (2-6, 1-4 CIAA W) Saturday. The Rams, who finish the regular season this week against Elizabeth City (2-6, 0-5 CIAA E), will face the East Division champion in the Nov. 10 championship game in Winston-Salem. Wins in both games will likely land WSSU a Div. II playoff berth. Virginia Union (6-2, 4-1 CIAA E) is a step closer to taking a second consecutive East Division title and making the CIAA championship tilt a rematch. WSSU won last year's title game 31-28. The Panthers went into Petersburg for Virginia State's (3-5, 2-3 CIAA E) homecoming Saturday and came away with a 42-20 win. VUU has to defeat Fayetteville State Saturday (Nov. 3) to earn the berth opposite WSSU in the title game. A VUU loss coupled with a win by Bowie State (5-3, 3-2 CIAA E) over Virginia State Saturday would give the East division crown to BSU. MEAC North Carolina A&T (6-1, 4-1 MEAC) is in the driver's seat for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship and automatic I-AA playoff berth that comes with it after a 16-14 win Saturday at Bethune-Cookman (5-2, 4-1 MEAC). A&T, B-CC and Florida A&M (6-2, 6-1 MEAC) all have one loss in the conference but the Aggies have the edge with wins over both FAMU and B-CC in head-to-head meetings. A&T still has conference games against Hampton (Nov. 10), S. C. State (Nov. 17) and Delaware State (Nov. 24). The Aggies travel to Atlanta Saturday for an out-of-conference date with Jackson State (Peach State Classic). SWAC In the Southwestern Athletic Conference, wins Saturday by Grambling State (43-3 over Texas Southern) and Alabama State (35-0 over Alabama A&M) sets up a showdown this weekend between the two in Montgomery, Al., that could foreshadow the Dec. 10 SWAC Championship Game. Though in opposite divisions, the game will count on both schools' division/conference ledger. Grambling (7-0, 5-0 SWAC W), now the only undefeated team in black college football, leads the SWAC West by a game (in the loss column) over Southern (4-3, 3-1 SWAC W). The Tigers have moved up to third in this week's Sports Network I-AA poll, receiving eight first-place votes. Alabama State (5-2, 4-1 SWAC E) is tied with Alcorn State (3-4, 2-1 SWAC E) atop the East Division. Alcorn State hosts Mississippi Valley State Saturday. SIAC A three-way tie for first place holds in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference between Fort Valley State (7-2, 5-1 SIAC), Morehouse (5-2, 4-1 SIAC) and Tuskegee (6-1, 3-1 SIAC). FVSU beat former SIAC-member Savannah State 35-0, Morehouse downed Kentucky State 29-14 and Tuskegee humbled Clark-Atlanta 56-7. The tie-breaking procedure in the SIAC says that the team that has gone the longest without winning the title is declared the champion. Using that formula, Morehouse, who last won an SIAC title in 1991, not only has the inside track to the title but also to a berth in this year's Pioneer Bowl (Dec. 22 in Atlanta). Tuskegee won the SIAC crown last year while Fort Valley took the title in 1999. To achieve those goals Morehouse needs wins in their final two games, this week at Albany State (4-4, 3-2 SIAC) and Nov. 10 at home against Miles. Last year Morehouse squeaked by Albany State 13-12 en route to an 8-3 finish. INDEPENDENTS Tennessee State (6-1, 3-1 OVC), ranked 13th in the Sports Network I-AA poll, suffered its first loss of the season Saturday when Eastern Illinois got a field goal in the final seconds to pull out a 52-49 win. EIU moved from ninth to sixth in the poll after the win. TSU, did not lose much ground, falling from 13th to 15th. The showing should put TSU in good stead to get a I-AA playoff at-large berth provided they win their remaining four games. That begins with Murray State (3-4, 1-2 OVC) this week in Nashville and follows with conference dates against Tennessee Tech (Nov. 10) and Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 17). The Blue Tigers also have a make-up game from Sept. 15 against Jackson State in Memphis on Nov. 24. MSU knocked off the Blue Tigers 62-40 last year in a season that saw TSU finish 3-8. © 2001 Azeez Communications, Inc. Return to Front Page