All the talk about individual and team records and repeating as conference champions was secondary to the South Carolina State football team Saturday.

To a man and head coach Oliver ‘Buddy’ Pough, earning a second straight trip to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs following the 37-13 win over Morgan State at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium took higher precedence. Unlike last season, the team’s first appearance since 1982, there was no satisfying talk about making the field of 16.

Instead, it was all about doing what Florida A&M was the last Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team to accomplish 10 years ago and what the Rattlers achieved 21 years prior to that - advance and claim a national championship.

“We’re more about team wins and trying to get into the playoffs and trying to make something happen in the playoffs than we are about those records,” Pough said.

“My main goal this year is to lead the team to a national championship,” quarterback Malcolm Long said. “Hopefully, you’ll be in Chattanooga (Tennessee, the site of the FCS title game) interviewing me.”

“Last year, we didn’t have experience. We were just there,” S.C. State safety Markee Hamlin said. “Now we have experience and we’re going to do what we’re suppose to do.”

This year’s post-season appearance comes with a sense of urgency for the Bulldogs. It has nothing to do with the pending graduations of major contributors like running back Will Ford and wide receivers Oliver ‘Tre’ Young and Terrance Smith.

Rather, the possibility within two years, all MEAC regular-season football champions will have to forgo the playoffs in favor of competing in a revived Heritage Bowl. In an interview on the Bulldog Radio Network two weeks ago, MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas hinted strongly at a season-ending game between the MEAC and Southwestern Athletic Conference champion by 2010 which would decide the mythical Black College FCS National Champion.

Currently, the only forum available to put the two conference champions against each other is the season-opening MEAC/SWAC Challenge at the Citrus Bowl. This year’s matchup between S.C. State and Grambling was only the third time in the ‘Challenge’ history the defending conference champions faced each other.

In recent days, the idea has also been floated about of sending the second-place MEAC team to the playoffs so that the conference can maintain it’s automatic bid. Right now, Thomas said he’s still awaiting final approval on financial backing to finalize a new Heritage Bowl deal.

On one side, it’s easy to see why Thomas wants to revive the Heritage Bowl. For the two championship teams, it’s an opportunity to make some badly-needed revenue at the end of the season as compared to the expenses required to travel or even play host to a first-round playoff game.

It’s no secret most FCS programs lose money competing in the football playoffs. Schools like Villanova, Richmond and Montana can absorb the loss because they have successful major Division I men’s basketball programs who serve as the breadwinner for their respective athletics programs.

This is the total opposite of smaller schools like South Carolina State whose hoops’ program has to make the NCAA Tournament to register a profit.

At the same time, there are several variables which makes it unfeasible to bring back the Heritage Bowl:

1. No guarantee of success

For all the fond memories Heritage Bowl supporters have of the past, in truth, there was a rapid decline in attendance following its inaugural year. Some will point to the fact that the MEAC sending its second or even third-place team (as South Carolina State was in 1997) instead of the champion contributed to loss of interest.

What’s not mentioned is the lack of a strong road following for HBCU teams save for a ‘Classic’. The truth is, only a select few HBCU teams (Florida A&M, S.C. State, Jackson State, Grambling) can bring a noticeable following and national name recognition to a Heritage Bowl to make it work.

Even this year’s MEAC/SWAC Challenge between South Carolina State and Grambling, two teams with loyal fans, and the backing of ESPN, barely filled half the seats inside the Citrus Bowl. Imagine what an Alabama A&M versus Morgan State matchup in the Heritage Bowl would look like at the Georgia Dome? Exactly.

2. Marginalizes the product

For all the SWAC’s strong home attendance figures and ‘Classic’ appearances, it’s still considered nationally a regional conference. Even worse, it’s built a reputation among other FCS schools as having teams which can only compete against other HBCUs.

This may be the preference for the SWAC, which gave up its automatic bid in favor of a conference championship game and the revue from the Bayou Classic. But is this the path the MEAC wants to partake in given some of its teams (Howard, Morgan State) do not draw well at home?

By turning its efforts towards just being the best Black College FCS conference, the MEAC is greatly limiting their reach and conference potential. S.C. State’s effort against Appalachian State last year in the FCS playoffs helped dissuade some of that perception as seen by the increased support received in the national FCS rankings.

All that goodwill disappears if the Bulldogs and other worthy MEAC teams in the future are not allowed to prove themselves in the playoffs.

3. The players prefer the playoffs.

If recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program, such a move would have a negative impact for MEAC schools.

For all the talk about young players picking a school for the education and pro exposure, winning an NCAA national championship has more significance for this post-integration generation of HBCU athletes. The allure of such an opportunity will attract more highly-talented NFL potential student-athletes to those teams whose conferences participate rather than those who have opted out (i.e. SWAC, Ivy League).

“We’re trying to prove to everybody that we can be the best,” Hamlin said. “We want to win a national championship.”

“I’d rather play for a national championship,” Long said. “It gives us an opportunity to play against different style teams in our division because we’re only playing the MEAC teams, and it would be a neat experience for us.”

“I’d rather play in the playoffs,” Young said. “Getting to play against the other (FCS) teams in the nation which have pretty good talent, I’d rather play those guys.”

The final decision, of course, is in the hands of Commissioner Thomas and the MEAC’s school presidents and athletics directors. Hopefully, all parties will weigh both sides of the argument before opting to pursue the ‘Fools’ Gold’ by reviving a game whose time may have passed it by.

Ford’s final drive

As proud as head coach Oliver ‘Buddy’ Pough was of the numerous records set Saturday by his team (18th consecutive conference win) and players Long (first Bulldog to throw for 2,000 yards in a season) and Young (school career receptions leader), there’s one mark he very much wants to see accomplished.

“The one record I really want to get is I’d like for Will (Ford) to be the leading rusher in the history of the league,” Pough said.

Ford needs 155 yards to become the MEAC’s all-time leading rusher and surpass 1,000 yards for the third straight year. He faces a North Carolina A&T team against whom he ran for a school record 322 yards in 2007.

BULLDOG BITES

S.C. State’s 9-1 record is the best showing after 10 games since 1980 when it was 10-0 before losing in the regular-season finale 26-3 to Grambling...Saturday’s crowd of 10,520 dropped S.C. State to fifth place nationally among FCS schools behind Old Dominion. Through four home games, the Bulldogs are averaging 19,050 fans a game...The Bulldogs improved to 61-6 when leading at halftime under Pough and 5-19 when trailing...S.C. State has won eight consecutive games over the Aggies and are 7-0 under Pough...Tickets for Saturday’s game are now available at a discounted rate. For more information, call the S.C. State Ticket Office at (803) 536-8579.

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