Associated Press
The college football notebook …
DURHAM ó The CIAA football championship game is coming back to Durham.
The Division II conference announced Wednesday that its title game will be played at Durham County Stadium on Nov. 8.
Durham previously played host to the championship game five times since 2000, including every year from 2003-06.
Last year’s title game was played in Charlotte, where Shaw beat Virginia Union 31-24 in double overtime.
The Hampton, Va.-based CIAA is the nation’s oldest conference for historically black colleges and universities.
CLEMSON-ALABAMA
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ó Alabama and Clemson will reportedly earn nearly $2 million apiece for their season-opening matchup in Atlanta.
The Birmingham News reported on its Web site Wednesday that the teams will split $3.8 million for the Aug. 30 game. The contract obtained by the paper through a public records request also shows beer will be available at concession stands until halftime of the game at the Georgia Dome.
The game will be televised on ABC.
SLIVE SPEAKS
HOOVER, Ala. ó Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive says the league will make a decision on its television and multimedia rights this fall.The TV deals with CBS, ESPN, Raycom Sports and FSN South run out at the end of the academic year.Slive said at SEC football media days Wednesday that the options include an SEC Network similar to the ones started by the Mountain West and Big Ten conferences and the NFL.
REAPING THE BENEFITS
HOOVER, Ala. ó Sylvester Croom and Mississippi State are reaping the recruiting dividends of last season’s strong finish.
Croom said the Bulldogs have already landed 19 verbal commitments from upcoming high school seniors. It’s largely a benefit of having won eight games and the Liberty Bowl last season.”We are way ahead of where we’ve ever been in recruiting for next season,” said Croom, the 2007 SEC coach of the year.
It remains to be seen if the Bulldogs have come far enough to achieve his goal of competing for an SEC title.
“I don’t know if we’ll be good enough,” Croom said. “At the end of the day, we might not be. I think we have a chance to do that. Every year, we’ve played as good as we can. But our goal is to win the conference championship. I don’t know any other way to do it, if you want to be the best.”