SC State edges Prairie View for Black College National Championship

With 17 first-place votes, South Carolina State captured the 2009 Sheridan Broadcasting Network Jake Gaither National Championship.

The Bulldogs finished the season 10-2, winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and going to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs where they fell to Appalachian State.  They garnered 252 points in the voting.  SC State maintained the top position in the Sheridan Poll throughout the entire season after defeating pre-season favorite Grambling 34-31 in the first game of the year.

Prairie View received 13 first-place votes and 239 points in the final balloting.  The Panthers went 9-1 and won the SWAC championship for the first time in 45 years.

Tuskegee finished third in the vote, followed by Florida A&M and Grambling.

Final poll (first-place votes)         Record                  Points

SC State (17)                                     10-2                       252

Prairie View (13)                                 9-1                        239

Tuskegee                                           10-2                       198

Florida A&M                                         8-3                        175

Grambling                                           7-4                         161

Shaw                                                    8-2                         139

Norfolk State                                       7-4                           79

Albany State                                        8-3                           67

Alabama A&M                                     7-5                           57

Morgan State                                      6-5                           34

Others receiving votes: Texas Southern, Fayetteville State, Southern, Elizabeth City State, Benedict