ALBANY (GA) STATE GOLDEN RAMS ARE THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Albany State University has captured the 2010 SBN Sports Black College National Football Championship. The Golden Rams posted an 11-1 record on the way to winning their first-ever SBN Jake Gaither National Championship Trophy.

            “It is indeed an honor to be selected as the black college football national champions,” said head coach Mike White. “I am extremely proud of our student-athletes, especially our seniors, and coaches for an outstanding season and stellar performance on the field. We set many goals this season, and although we fell short of the NCAA Division II national championship, I am proud to be a Golden Ram.”

            South Carolina State University was the preseason favorite to repeat as SBN National Champions while Albany State was chosen to finish in ninth place. Head Coach Mike White and his team won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship (SIAC) with a perfect 10-0 regular season record and that led to a first-round bye in the Division II Playoffs. The Golden Rams defeated Wingate University 30-28 in the second round. They advanced to the quarterfinals and lost to Delta State 28-7.

            In final SBN Poll voting, Albany State University received 14 first-place votes and 254 points. Bethune Cookman University was second with nine first-place votes and 245 points. Texas-Southern University finished in third place with six first-place votes and 239 points, Grambling State University was ranked

fourth with 192 points and South Carolina State was fifth with 156 points. Florida A&M University was number six; the Rattlers also received one first-place vote. Tuskegee University, Jackson State University, Morehouse College and Shaw University rounded out the top 10.

            Albany State University will be honored during the 37th Annual SBN Sports Black College All-American Awards Weekend on Feb. 11-12, 2011, in Orlando, Fla. American Urban Radio Networks will also be honoring the 24-member 2010 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), Jacoby Jones (Houston Texans) and Issac Redman (Pittsburgh Steelers). 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 Doug Williams. The event’s keynote speaker is 1991 SBN Defensive Player of the Year, former New York Giants defensive end and current NFL ON FOX analyst Michael Strahan.

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