It's been a long wait between playoff appearances for S.C. State, but the Bulldogs are on their way. After a 26-year absence, S.C. State clinched the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship with a 32-0 win over Morgan State Saturday.

The Bulldogs earned a ticket to the Football Championship Subdivision tournament in the process. S.C. State, (9-2, 7-0 MEAC) which last earned a playoff bid in 1982, clearly is the league's - and perhaps black college football's - top team in 2008. In 2004, S.C. State tied Hampton for first, but lost the head-to-head meeting and automatic playoff bid, one of several near-misses during head coach Buddy Pough's six seasons on the Orangeburg, S.C., campus. "It's just a great feeling," Pough said. "Can you imagine being so close for all the six years I've been here and we finally got it done."

Looks like 600 home runs not only gives you props, but also scores you endorsement deals. Integrated Beverage Group (IBG announced that they have made Chicago White Sox center fielder Ken Griffey, Jr. the face of their product, Power Ice, for the next three years. Power Ice is a frozen snack for kids that hydrates while quenching their thirst and replacing electrolytes.

"It's an honor for us to have Ken Griffey, Jr. as the spokesman for Power Ice," said Jason Santiago, Chief Marketing Officer of Integrated Beverage Group (IBG). "Ken is one of sports living legends and we feel privileged to have him associate himself with Power Ice and IBG."

In an interview with ESPN during his presidential campaign, Barack Obama made it known that he would love to see a college football playoff format instead of the current Bowl Championship Series (BCS). Then last night in an interview with '60 Minutes,' interviewer Steve Kroft asked Obama about the idea again, and Obama seemed pretty serious about it.

"Eight teams. That would be three rounds to determine a national champion," Obama said in the interview. "It would add three extra weeks to the season. You could trim back on the regular season. I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."

The early part of the college basketball season is reserved for pay-to-play games. You know the type: Mid-major Division I programs take guarantees for a road game and beat-down against a top-tier opponent.

There are arguments for and against the practice. Proponents say financially strapped schools can make a quick buck and toughen up for the conference campaign. Critics say taking whippings for cash is mentally and physically draining. HBCUs are among the busiest travelers.

No one touches Coppin State for a killer schedule. The Eagles play at Purdue, Kansas, Dayton, Wisconsin and Syracuse before Christmas. Then it's off to the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii Nov. 27-30. Then it's off to Big 12 country with games at Oklahoma and Missouri before jumping into MEAC competition.

North Carolina Central, an independent playing its second Division I season, opens at No. 21 Wake Forest on Nov. 14 in Winston-Salem, N.C. That's the Eagles' only appearance in the Tar Heel State until December. NCCU, which went 4-26 last season, play their first six games on the road, covering 8,166 miles.

After Wake Forest, the Eagles go to Kent State on Nov. 17, Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 20 and Tulsa on Nov. 25, before playing in the South Padre Island (Texas) Invitational on Nov. 28-29. NCCU's first home game is Dec. 3 against High Point. Morgan State, the preseason pick to win the MEAC, play five of its first six on the road, starting with LaSalle Nov. 15 in Philadelphia and ending with the Glen Wilkes Classic in Orlando, Fla. Nov. 21-23 against Marshall, Utah and Wisconsin-Green Bay on consecutive days.

MSU is capable of coming out of that stretch with some wins, which would underscore the preseason expectations in Baltimore. Travel doesn't have to be a bad thing, though. Grambling State plays Morehead State and The Citadel Nov. 29-30 in Cancun, Mexico along with money games at New Mexico Nov. 20 and Oklahoma State Nov. 23.

This week Serena Williams is hanging out in Africa as a global ambassador for Hewlett Packard. She has also partnered with HP and Build African Schools to open The Serena Williams Secondary School, a school which she helped fund in Kenya. She was also in Johannesburg, South Africa this week visiting with children infected with AIDS.

"I'm working as an HP Ambassador in Johannesburg and we are working with the Starfish Greathearts charity," Serena wrote on her website. "This charity helps give aid, care, and housing to kids with AIDS. These kids are mostly born with AIDS and they don't have the care that they need or can live with. The kids I met today were orphans. It was so sad to see them in this situation. They had so much hope and love in their eyes, yet a tinge of sadness behind their pupils bringing me to tears. ...

Albany State is the only Division II HBCU playing postseason football in 2008. The Golden Rams (7-3), who finished second to Tuskegee in the SIAC race, will play Tusculum (8-3) in Greenville, Tenn., Nov. 15 in the first round of the national playoffs.

Tuskegee, which is 10-0, typically doesn't participate in the postseason in order to play the Turkey Day Classic against Division I rival Alabama State. Albany State, however, was ranked fifth in Super Regional 2, one spot ahead of the cut off point for the playoffs. The CIAA got absolutely no love in Super Regional 1, where the league was moved this season. A week ago, three CIAA schools - Fayetteville State, Shaw and Elizabeth City - were in the top 10.

But after Shaw beat Elizabeth City for its second straight championship, FSU and ECSU fell out of the rankings and the Bears were outside looking in at No. 10. Critics of the CIAA championship game insist its elimination would give one or perhaps two teams a legitimate shot at the playoffs.

Of course, beating more non-conference teams would help, too. With this year's Pioneer Bowl cancelled, Shaw and Tuskegee don't even get a postseason parting gift. That means Tuskegee, a Pioneer regular, is finished after Thanksgiving. The entire CIAA has to lick its wounds until next August.

Last year, Houston Rockets guard Tracy McGrady took a trip to the Darfur region of Sudan in Africa. T-Mac brought a camera crew with him to film the experience and now the footage is a documentary film called "3 Points", which is a reference to the goals of peace, protection and punishment. McGrady premiered the film in Los Angeles last weekend for a small crowd and it seemed to get a pretty good response from those who attended, including L.A. Clipper Baron Davis.

"This is a project that means so much to me," McGrady said. "One thing I promised the kids and all the people there was that I would make sure their words are heard. The most important thing is the message. That all we want from this film, to get the message out and get people to want to get involved."

It looks like it took Elton Brand getting shipped to the Philadelphia 76ers from the Los Angeles Clippers to finally get his own signature shoe. Brand and Converse announced this week that Brand's signature shoe, The EB1, is now available exclusively at JCPenny for an easy $65.

"I am excited to begin a partnership with one of the premier performance basketball shoe companies in the world," Brand said in a statement. "Converse represents both tradition, originality, and is in position to change the game in performance basketball footwear. The EB1 is a durable, but fast and versatile performance shoe, which is perfect for my style of play. With the EB1 sold nationwide at JCPenney, kids can have a cool, affordable shoe that looks fly when they wear it to school, and then they can get on the court and put in some work."

If you've been watching the Denver Nuggets at all this season, you may have noticed that Carmelo Anthony is rockin' a Caesar instead of his trademark cornrows. No, he didn't cut them off to mourn the loss of Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons. But the reason could be two-fold.

The small forward recently opened a barbershop called Studio 15 in downtown Denver. According to the Denver Post, Melo has always wanted to own a barbershop and apparently this shop offers a wide variety of cuts, including one similar to his.

"All sorts, all sorts," Melo said referring to the types of cuts. "Each gender. And there's lineups, a cosmetologist, manicure, pedicure. We've got the works."

So did he cut his hair to promote the new shop? Hardly. The real reason is that the star baller lost a bet. Check out the video after the jump:

It's been about a week since Barack Obama won the presidency, and everyone is still in a bit of euphoria after the election. The folks at the Associated Press talked to a handful of Black athletes to get their take on the election and what it meant to them.

"It reminded me of, obviously, when Martin Luther King spoke and the messages that he spoke about," McNabb said about watching Obama give his victory speech. "As a man, if you teared up, it was acceptable because it was that deep. For the first time, I had the opportunity to vote and I can say that I was a part of it."

LeBron James showed his support for Obama when he donated money to a committee working for the President-elect, and was impressed that Obama was playing hoops before he stepped out at Grant Park in Chicago to give his speech.

"They say that's a ritual for him, like me coming in early and getting a massage before the game," James said. "It got him prepared. The speech was, wow. If it takes basketball for him to say things like that, then let him do it."

"We talk about the black vote, but white America is the one that makes the difference, and they voted for an African-American," added Phoenix Sun Grant Hill. "You can have all the black votes you want, but if you don't have the white vote, you ain't going to win. It just shows a lot."

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett really hasn't doing much damage on the field lately, maybe because he might be a bit distracted. The receiver has lately been dating Playboy Playmate and "Girls Next Door" star, Kendra Wilkinson and over the weekend he asked the Playboy model to marry him. She said yes. Don't worry though, Wilkinson's sugar daddy, Hugh Hefner is all for it.

"Kendra Wilkinson has met someone who she would like to spend the rest of her life with," Hefner told E! News. "His name is Hank Baskett, a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, and he popped the question last Saturday. I have given her my blessing and will be giving her away at a very special wedding ceremony at the Playboy Mansion this coming June."

The housecleaning is underway in CIAA football. Greg Richardson and Daryl McNeill are the first casualties of the coaching purge launched by league schools this week, paying the ultimate price for underachieving programs. Richardson was cut loose at Virginia Union after one season. His contract was not renewed after a 5-5 campaign with a team expected to win the CIAA championship.

The Panthers started 4-1 and looked capable of winning a second straight East Division title, but were undone by inconsistency down the stretch. Richardson, a former defensive coordinator, was promoted to head coach in March after Arrington Jones resigned.

Richardson, a former head coach at CIAA rival Livingstone, was an assistant coach for five seasons at Virginia Union, including assistant head coach and defensive coordinator from 2006-07 seasons. He was also a Panthers assistant from 1997-98. Six days after closing a second straight 3-7 campaign, JCSU President Ronald Carter and Athletics Director Steve Joyner announced McNeill's ouster, effective immediately. McNeill was 23-38 in six seasons with the Golden Bulls over two stints. His second tour at the school produced a 13-28 record over the last four seasons. McNeill, who was also associate athletics director, was criticized for the offseason promotion of Rod Robinson to defensive coordinator - his first job on that side of the ball - from tight ends coach and the Bulls' slide to the bottom of the CIAA.

The high point of McNeill's stay at JCSU was 2006 when the Bulls went 7-4 with a berth in the Pioneer Bowl.

He went 10-10 from 1995-96 at JCSU before leaving for Savannah State. University officials say they will begin an immediate search for McNeill's replacement. The new coach will be free to hire his own assistants.

A recent study by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida has shown that African-American head coaches in college football are the lowest it's been since 1993. With the recent firings of Ty Willingham at Washington and Ron Prince at Kansas State, out of the 119 NCAA football schools, there are only four Black coaches left: Miami's Randy Shannon, Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom, Buffalo's Turner Gill and Houston's Kevin Sumlin.

"While the percentages [of minority coaches] are slightly better, the general picture is still one of white men running college sport," the report's co-author, Richard Lapchick told the Associated Press. "Overall, the numbers simply do not reflect the diversity of our student-athletes. Moreover, they do not reflect the diversity of our nation where we have elected an African-American as President for the first time."


AP

He had the support of Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley and it appears the city of Sacramento as former Phoenix Sun point guard Kevin Johnson won the mayoral race for the city. Johnson was running against incumbent Heather Fargo, who had completed two terms.

"Sacramento also made history today in electing its first black mayor," Johnson told the Associated Press last night. "Both Obama and myself, we ran on a promise and the theme of change. No more business as usual."

Even though Laila Ali is no longer boxing, she's busier than ever. Besides being a mom to a two month old baby and being a correspondent on CBS' Early Show, she's getting down with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ali joined California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and they put her to work quickly by having her speak to the student body of NEW Academy Canoga Park, urging them to continue leading active and healthy lifestyles.

"I am thrilled to join the Governor's Council and take on another role that lets me continue to promote healthier lifestyles," Ali said in a statement. "The Governor's Challenge and The Live Like a Champion Tour are great fitness initiatives that are inspiring kids to get active. Today, thanks to The Governor's Council, Longs Drugs and Anthem Blue Cross, more than 400 kids got rewarded for wanting to be fit. To have been part of that celebration is a real honor!"