Duane Rankin

Montgomery Advertiser

TUSCALOOSA – After Albany State backed out, Tuskegee has found a 10th game to qualify for the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Virginia State coach Reggie Barlow confirmed that his Trojans (8-2) will play the No. 14-ranked Golden Tigers (8-1) Saturday after Albany State (5-2) decided not to play Tuskegee two days after the game was announced.

"I'm so grateful for administration that believe in me and trust me and they said it was my decision," said the Montgomery native who coached against Tuskegee as head coach at Alabama State. Tuskegee beat ASU, 27-25, with Barlow as coach the last time the two teams played in 2012 in the first game at ASU Stadium.

Sources close to the situation say Albany State decided not to play Tuskegee for a second time this season after having a team meeting. The Golden Tigers beat the Golden Rams earlier this year in September. Tuskegee athletic director Curtis Campbell said Albany State informed Tuskegee of its decision Sunday night.

“I am very disappointed in Albany State's decision not to honor their agreement,” Campbell said in a statement Monday morning. “As members of the SIAC, we must be able to trust the word of a member institution.”

Tuskegee to play Albany State again for 10th game to qualify for NCAA D-II playoffs

Hours later, Virginia State accepted the game as it will be played in Tuskegee. Tuskegee issued a news release Monday night indicating that it's a noon kickoff. Barlow said Tuskegee reached out to Virginia State president Dr. Makola M. Abdullah and director of athletics Peggy Davis about playing the Trojans, who ended their initial regular season last week with a 48-21 win at Virginia Union.

"They said, 'Hey, it's your decision,' but with it being my decision and me being the face of the program, I loved for it to be our decision," Barlow continued. "So I had a sit-down with our assistant coaches. They all thought it would be great for us to do it and a good experience. Another opportunity to play ball. Then I sat down with our team, our seniors, made eye contact with them and told them if we did do it, they had to promise me that it wouldn't be some shabby preparation and that they were going to be dialed in and treat it as if it's a game week for conference."

The Trojans have accepted Barlow's challenge. Game on.

"They assured me that and I said, "Let's do it,'" Barlow added.

Looking to make the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season, Tuskegee also revealed Monday morning the NCAA denied its waiver to qualify for the playoffs with just nine games. Campbell was scheduled to have conference call with NCAA about the waiver last week.

Tuskegee players focused on SIAC rival Miles

Campbell hasn't returned calls made this morning from the Montgomery Advertiser about the situation. Tuskegeehas dropped from fourth to sixth in the latest NCAA Super Region 2 rankings. Seven teams from each of the four regions make the playoffs.

When talking last month about wanting a 10th game, Campbell said he felt it would help Tuskegee in terms of seeing, but Virginia State sees this as an opportunity to make a late postseason push. Out of Super Region 1, VSU isn't in the top 10, but a win over a team in currently in the top seven of the region as Tuskegee is would improve its chances for postseason.

"With have the whole mindset that we've created here, 'Not dead. Won't quit,' and if there is a one percent chance to have an opportunity to go (to the playoffs), they want to take that opportunity," said Barlow about the Trojans, who finished 6-4 in 2015. "If that happens, that would be great. If not, these seniors finished 8-2. They put out the way we needed them to and the next step would be the next step."

Tuskegee, which had appealed the denied waiver, requested it the Monday after losing Oct. 22 to Kentucky State on homecoming. If Tuskegee had won the SIAC West, it would’ve played that necessary 10th game in the conference championship game Saturday at Cramton Bowl.

Instead Kentucky State (4-6) won the division and will play Fort Valley State (4-6). In the 2016-17 NCAA Division II football pre-championship manual, it reads teams must “play at least 10 opponents during the regular season. An institution may submit a waiver request to the football committee for its consideration if a given institution is not able to satisfy this requirement” under qualifying standards for playoffs.

Must-win Tuskegee seeks waiver, additional game for NCAA D-II playoffs

Albany State and Tuskegee played twice in 2014, but the rematch was in the SIAC title game the Golden Tigers won, 47-41, in Montgomery.

Tuskegee lost a game on its 2016 schedule after SIAC West school Stillman dropped football last December. Campbell said last month he immediately tried to schedule a game for Oct. 15, but found it difficult to land one because schools are in the middle of conference play.

"We called Gulf South schools, we called CIAA schools, we called South Atlantic schools," Campbell said Oct. 28. "We wanted to play. (Tuskegee coach Willie Slater) would like to play 10 games and not have a bye week if possible, but a mid-October date is really hard to fill because if you're a conference school, you're playing your conference schedule in October. It's much easier to fill a game if it's in the first three weeks of the season."

Virginia State is a CIAA school.

Hours before playing Miles College on Saturday at Legion Field in Birmingham, Tuskegee announced it would play the Albany State-Fort Valley State loser for its 10th game. Out of the five SIAC East teams, Tuskegee hadn’t played Benedict or Fort Valley State, but Benedict had already had a game scheduled for Nov. 12 against Point University.

So Fort Valley State was the only SIAC East team Tuskegee hadn’t played that would be available to play if it hadn’t reached the conference title game, but Tuskegee reached an agreement to play Albany State again if it lost to Fort Valley State.

The Golden Rams wound up losing, then backed out of their second scheduled game against Tuskegee, but Virginia State will play the Golden Tigers instead.