November 23, 1974: The 1st Bayou Classic

November 23, 1974: The 1st Bayou Classic is held, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. Grambling State University defeats Southern University, 21-0.

Northern Louisiana and Southern Louisiana is a cultural intrastate rivalry, and this extends even to what have come to be called Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). These were often placed in the same cities as major white schools. Southern University is in Baton Rouge, the capital city of Louisiana, which is also where Louisiana State University (LSU) is. Grambling State University (or just "Grambling") is in the town of the same name, not far from Ruston, home of Louisiana Tech.

Grambling and Southern -- and I am listing them that way only due to alphabetical order -- began playing each other in football in 1932. Arnett "Ace" Mumford coached SU from 1936 to 1961 (except for 1943, during World War II), while Eddie Robinson coached GSU from 1941 to 1997 (except for 1943 and 1944). Each man's school named its respective stadium after him.

As early as 1948, the game was being called a "classic." But it was an unfortunate event that led it to becoming the extravaganza it's become: In 1972, there was political unrest on Southern's campus, and 2 students, Denver Smith and Leonard Brown, were shot and killed, presumably by white sheriff's deputies. I say, "presumably" because, officially, the murders have never been solved. Governor Edwin Edwards ordered the campus closed, and, since SU were hosting the game that season, they had to forfeit.

For the 1973 season, the game was moved to presumably neutral territory, although the site, what's now named Independence Stadium, in Shreveport, was considerably closer to Grambling, which was due to host that season, anyway. A crowd of 40,000 sold the place out.

When the schools realized just how many people wanted the game back, they decided to make a bigger deal out of it. So they moved the 1974 game to New Orleans, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. And that's how it's been done ever since, first at Tulane Stadium and then, from the 2nd one onward, at the Superdome.

The only exceptions have been in 2005, when the damage from Hurricane Katrina forced the game to be moved to what's now named NRG Stadium in Houston -- which, appropriately enough, is known as the Bayou City; and in 2020, when, due to COVID restrictions, it was again played at Independence Stadium in Shreveport.

The Bayou Classic is, beyond any question, the biggest game of the year in the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA, bigger even than its Playoffs. The winner almost always clinches -- or has already clinched -- the West Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).

The game has been called "Black America's Family Reunion." Black-themed college fraternities, whether they have houses on either school's campus or not, have reunions in New Orleans that weekend. There's concerts, a black business showcase, a college recruitment fair (not just for the schools playing), and a charity golf tournament.

And, of course, there's the Battle of the Bands, at halftime, between Grambling's "World Famed" Tiger Marching Band, which famously performed at Super Bowl I, and Southern's Marching Band from Jaguarland, a.k.a. "the Human Jukebox."

Each band's high-stepping, horn-swinging moves are accompanied by dancing girls in glittering outfits. It has been suggested that the Battle of the Bands is more important to the schools' bragging rights than the football game.

The Battle of the Bands was the main reason NBC began televising the game in 1991. Aside from Notre Dame home games and some bowl games, it's the Peacock Network's only college football broadcast, usually at 1:30 PM Central Time (2:30 Eastern).

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November 23, 1974 was a Saturday. These other notable college football games, including some major rivalries, were played that day:

* Rivalry: Number 1 Oklahoma beat Number 6 Nebraska, 28-14 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Oklahoma were on probation, so, while they were eligible to be ranked Number 1, and eligible to be awarded the National Championship, they were ineligible for a bowl game.

* Number 2 Alabama were idle, preparing for their rivalry with Number 7 Auburn the next week. 'Bama won, 17-13 at Legion Field in Birmingham. 

* Rivalry: Number 4 Ohio State beat Number 3 Michigan, 12-10 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. This clinched the Big Ten Conference title for Ohio State.

* Number 5 Notre Dame beat Air Force, 38-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Army and Navy had the week off, preparing for their game against each other, the following week at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia. Navy won, 19-0.

Since Big Eight Conference Champion Oklahoma were ineligible for a bowl game, the Orange Bowl offered its bids to Notre Dame and to Southeastern Conference Champion Alabama. Notre Dame won. The Sugar Bowl offered its Southeastern Conference bid to the University of Florida, which lost to Nebraska.

* Rivalry: Number 8 University of Southern California (USC) beat the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), 34-9 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC won the Pacific-Eight Conference title, and beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

* Number 10 Penn State were idle. They were preparing for their rivalry game next week, with the University of Pittsburgh. Penn State won, 31-10 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* Rivalry: Number 11 Maryland beat Virginia, 10-0 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia.

* One ranked team was upset, and it was by their arch-rivals: Number 19 California lost to Stanford, 22-20 at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

* Baylor beat Southern Methodist University (SMU), 31-14 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. When Texas A&M beat Texas, that threw the Southwest Conference title to Baylor, and they went back to the Cotton Bowl, to play the game of the same name. Penn State beat them.

* Rivalry: Harvard beat Yale, 21-16 at Harvard Stadium in Boston.

* In New Jersey, Rutgers beat Colgate, 62-21 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway; and Princeton beat Cornell, 41-20 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

* Rivalry: Temple beat Villanova, 17-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* Rivalry: William & Mary beat Richmond, 54-12 at City Stadium in Richmond, Virginia.

* Rivalry: North Carolina beat Duke, 14-13 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

* Rivalry: Clemson beat South Carolina, 39-21 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Rivalry: Tennessee beat Kentucky, 24-7 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Rivalry: Mississippi State beat Mississippi (Ole Miss) at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson.

* Rivalry: Louisiana State (LSU) beat Tulane, 34-22 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Rivalry: Purdue beat Indiana, 38-17 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Rivalry: Illinois beat Northwestern, 28-14 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

* Rivalry: Wisconsin beat Minnesota, 49-14 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

* Rivalry: Missouri beat Kansas, 27-3 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

* Rivalry: Brigham Young beat Utah, 48-20 at what's now LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.

* Rivalry: Oregon State beat Oregon, 35-16 at what's now named Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

* Rivalry: Washington beat Washington State, 24-17 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington.

There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 90-72 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics, 98-96 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Don Nelson scored 35 points in defeat.

* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Atlanta Hawks, 103-100 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Phoenix Suns, 117-104 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Bob McAdoo scored 33 points for the Braves.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New Orleans Jazz, 121-100 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Detroit Pistons, 110-98 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Rick Barry scored 45 points for the Warriors.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat their arch-rivals, the Portland Trail Blazers, 117-110 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Fred Brown scored 40 points for the Sonics.

There were 4 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets lost to the Indiana Pacers, 104-95 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Virginia Squires, 122-110 at the Hampton Coliseum outside Norfolk in Hampton, Virginia.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Spirits of St. Louis, 127-114 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* And the Utah Stars beat the Kentucky Colonels, 111-110 in overtime at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

There were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 3-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 0-0 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Kansas City Scouts, 6-0 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the California Golden Seals, 3-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Montreal Canadiens, the Buffalo Sabres, the Atlanta Flames and the Washington Capitals were not scheduled.

And there were 4 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Toronto Toros beat the Quebec Nordiques, 9-2 at the Colisée de Québec in Quebec City.

* The New England Whalers beat the Chicago Cougars, 3-2 at the Big E Coliseum in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

* The San Diego Mariners beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints, 5-3 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* And the Houston Aeros beat the Vancouver Blazers, 4-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And in English soccer, the North London soccer team I would one day root for, Arsenal F.C., lost to Coventry City, 3-0 at Highfield Road in Coventry, West Midlands.