Tuskegee Tops Season-Ending ADD'S HBCU SPORTS REPORT Division II HBCU Football Poll; Crowned D-2 HBCU National Champs

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

It wasn't the season that Tuskegee backers thought it would be as there was no Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title, or even a championship game appearance.

Credit that to a surprising Kentucky State team that upset the Golden Tigers to take the SIAC West title.

But for the most part, Tuskegee (9-3, 6-1 SIAC) steamrolled through the Division II season and ends the 2016 season on top of the final ADD'S HBCU SPORTS REPORT HBCU Division II football poll of the year and are claim our national championship.

The Golden Tigers' 10-9 loss to No. 10 Kentucky State on Oct. 22 shocked the HBCU football world, though former Michigan State and Louisville head coach John L. Smith turned around a bad Kentucky State football program this season.   The Golden Tigers also fell to Virginia State in a hastily scheduled season-ending game to give them the tenth regular season game they needed to qualify for the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Tuskegee made the playoffs, stunning Newberry and then falling to North Greenville in the second round.

Winston-Salem State (9-3, 8-1 CIAA) lost two of their first three, but ran off eight straight wins to claim the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship an earn a spot in the NCAA Division II playoff field where they lost to undefeated LIU-Post.  

Here is the season-ending ADD'S HBCU SPORTS REPORT HBCU Division II Football poll:

Division II

1) Tuskegee (9-3 6-1 SIAC)
2) Winston-Salem State (9-3, 8-1 CIAA)
3) Virginia State (9-2, 6-2 CIAA)
4) Bowie State (7-4, 7-2 CIAA)
5) Chowan (6-4, 5-3 CIAA)
6) Albany State (5-4, 4-2 SIAC)
7) Elizabeth City State (5-5, 5-3 CIAA)
8) Fort Valley State (5-6, 5-4 SIAC)
9) Virginia Union (5-5, 5-3 CIAA)
10) Kentucky State (4-7, 4-4 SIAC)