As one might conclude – and has been the case with previous years – the things we witnessed on the HBCU sports landscape during the year that was 2017 did not disappoint.
It was a year that produced the expected and unexpected.
We witnessed events that included a school announcing its plan to leave an NCAA Division I conference to move down to Division II for financial reasons. We also observed another school from the same conference announce its departure to join another non-HBCU conference because – quite frankly – it thought it was better academically than everyone else in the former conference.
The year 2017 was the year we sadly saw the end of a conference championship game, which led to a long-term conference commissioner calling it quits and resulting in a collective “Hallelujah” from the fans that follow the conference.
Best of all, we saw HBCU student-athletes ascend to the next level to become members of the fraternity that is the NFL.
Based on the data we’ve retrieved from analytic and social media reports from the past year, below are the 30 most-read stories from 2017.
30. Former JSU linebacker Javancy Jones reportedly stepping away from football
29. North Carolina A&T’s Cohen named Black College Football Player of the Year
28. Report: Longtime Arkansas-Pine Bluff coach Monte Coleman will not return next year
27. Savannah State officially announces move to Division II, leave MEAC
26. Honda Battle of the Bands announces 2018 lineup
25. Four teams still in SWAC football championship race, here are the scenarios
24. Watch: Hail Mary gives Bethune-Cookman last second win over N.C. Central
23. NFL Draft 2017: The last time your team picked a player from an HBCU
22. Grambling State dismisses basketball coach Shawn Walker
21. Morehouse AD robbed at gunpoint by woman he met on Craigslist
20. Howard stuns UNLV, pulls biggest upset in college football history
19. Hampton reportedly preparing to bolt MEAC for Big South Conference
18. Several HBCU teams banned from postseason due to NCAA APR scores
17. Grambling State loses prized FBS transfer Christian Morris to Tennessee State
16. SWAC releases 2017 football television schedule
15. Report: Florida A&M offers former NBA star Rod Strickland coaching job
14.NFL Draft 2017: Breaking down HBCU draft prospects
13. Former Olympian David Oliver named Track & Field Director at Howard
12. Undrafted HBCU players sign NFL free-agent contracts
11. Watch: Grambling State WR Chad Williams Gets In Scuffle At Senior Bowl Practice
10. Sources: Duer Sharp is resigning as SWAC commissioner
9. Investment group seeking to form HBCU pay-for-play league to attract nation’s best athletes
8. SWAC releases 2017 preseason football team, predicted order of finish
7. Unsigned Kentucky high school running back wants to play at HBCU
6. Miles College Purple Marching Machine voted HBCU Sports’ Band of the Year
5. Grambling’s Fobbs among rumored candidates for vacant Louisiana-Lafayette job
4. Watch: Grambling’s Chad Williams gets draft call from Arizona Cardinals
3. Grambling placed on two-year probation, must vacate 2011 football championship
2. K’Hari Lane is too good for HBCUs and it’s too bad for all of us
1. SWAC announces the end of football championship game
