(Pittsburgh, PA) – The South Carolina State University Bulldogs have captured the 2009 SBN Sports Black College National Football Championship. The Bulldogs posted a 10-2 record on the way to winning The SBN Jake Gaither National Championship Trophy for the first time since 1981.

Grambling State was the preseason favorite to repeat as SBN National Champions while South Carolina State was chosen to finish in second place. The two teams would quickly switch poll positions after the Bulldogs defeated the Tigers in the season opener, 34-31. South Carolina State maintained the number one position throughout the regular and post-season.

In final balloting, South Carolina State garnered 17 first-place votes and 252 points. Prairie View A&M ,the 2009 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Champions were second with 13 first-place votes and 239 points. Tuskegee finished in third place with 198 points, Florida A&M was ranked number four with 175 points and Grambling State was fifth with 161 points. Shaw, Norfolk State, Albany State, Alabama A&M and Morgan State rounded out the top ten.

South Carolina State University will be honored during the 36th Annual SBN Sports Black College All-American Awards Weekend, February 12-14, in Orlando, Florida. American Urban Radio Networks will also be honoring the 24-member SBN All-American Team, SBN’s Coach of the Year and SBN’s Offensive and Defensive players of the Year. Special invited guests include former SBN Black College All-Americans, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (Arizona Cardinals), Kendall Langford (Miami Dolphins) and Antoine Bethea (Indianapolis Colts). SBN Black College All-American committee members scheduled to attend include, NFL Hall of Famer Mel Blount, L.C. Greenwood, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson and Eddie Robinson, Jr.

The SBN Sports Network is a division of American Urban Radio Networks, the largest Black-owned radio network company in the country, with offices and bureaus in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Detroit and Pittsburgh.

Black College Football Poll
12-14-09
*Final Poll