Saturday was a significant day for HBCU football. Several teams played in nationally televised games in what was referred to as “Week 0,” with the headliner the Howard University Bison and the Alabama A&M Bulldogs clashing in the 2026 Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kick-Off at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta.
The Bison (1-0) came away with a 31-24 victory as graduate quarterback Ja’Shawn Scroggins passed for a career-high 315 yards and three touchdowns in a gripping matchup broadcast on ABC in prime time. It was the first win for Howard’s Tederal “Ted” White, a 50-year-old college and professional football coaching veteran who is in his first head coaching job after being hired by his alma mater in January. White, who played quarterback for Howard from 1995 to 1999, is the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s and Howard’s all-time leader in passing yards (9,808) and passing touchdowns (92).
Howard and Alabama A&M playing in a coveted television time slot reflects the rebirth of historically Black colleges and universities football, which began in earnest when Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders was hired by Jackson State University as their head coach in September 2020. He ended up lifting the Tigers to two Southwestern Athletic Conference championships (2021, 2022) before moving on in December 2022 to take the head coaching job at the University of Colorado.
Another sign of growth and uniformity for HBCU football is the formation of the Black College Football Poll (BCFP). It will now be the standard for rankings for the MEAC, SWAC, CIAA and SIAC, the four major HBCU conferences competing in the Division I FCS and Division II. For many decades various media outlets, notably the Black press, published singular weekly HBCU football rankings, including this publication.
BCFP is a voting panel of 57 members composed of HBCU head coaches and media members. The South Carolina State Bulldogs, the reigning HBCU national champion, entered Week 0 atop the poll and remain in the top spot going into their Week 1 game this Saturday versus the Florida A&M Rattlers at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. after crushing Savannah State 87-0 this past Saturday.
