SIAC agreens on Tuskegee
For Pioneer Bowl, Morehouse snubbed
Pioneer Bowl V is now set with CIAA
champion Virginia Union to face BCSP #1
Tuskegee on Dec. 22 at Atlanta's Georgia Dome.
The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference announced Tuesday that the league's Council
of Presidents had upheld the Nov. 21 decision of
Commissioner Robert C. Vowels naming Tuskegee
as the conference's representative.
Vowels named Tuskegee (9-1) over
Morehouse (8-2), two of the three teams along with
Fort Valley State (8-3) who tied this year for the conference
title, each with 6-1 SIAC records. FVSU was
eliminated after participating in the NCAA Div. II playoffs.
Vowels decision was challenged by
Morehouse, who defeated Tuskegee, 14-3, on Oct. 13, the
Golden Tigers' only loss of the season. Presidents of the
13-member institutions met in a conference call
Tuesday to reach a final decision.
The determination seems to have come down
to terminology in the SIAC's tie-breaking procedure
related to "traditional schedule." Clause 2-C of the
procedures grants the championship, in the event of a
three way tie in conference play, to the team with the
best "traditional" winning percentage. That term is used
to designate 'overall' record. Tuskegee's 10-1 record
translates to a .909 winning percentage. Morehouse's
8-2 mark is a .800 percentage.
The conference office was prepared to name Morehouse as the PB representative based on the
same Clause 2C which eliminates the team that most
recently represented the conference. But that was
before Tuskegee challenged that decision. Tuskegee has
played in the last three Pioneer Bowl games.
© 2001 Azeez Communications, Inc.
| 
