Say good-bye to the Pioneer Bowl for 2008. SIAC and CIAA officials have called off the Division II postseason game scheduled for Dec. 6 at Johnson Stadium in Columbia, S.C.

The SIAC's Council of Presidents and Athletic Directors' Committee and CIAA Board of Directors decided to focus on improving the game's viability after several years of lagging sponsorship and attendance.

"Obviously, the CIAA is disappointed that there will be no Pioneer Bowl this year," CIAA Commissioner Leon Kerry said in a statement. ...


"However, we look forward to working closely with the SIAC over the next year to plan the finest Pioneer Bowl in 2009." The Pioneer is the only NCAA-sanctioned postseason bowl game for historically black schools and matches the champions of the SIAC and the CIAA. The game began in 1997 and the SIAC leads the series 8-2, with Tuskegee winning six of eight. "We want to make the Pioneer Bowl a destination for HBCU football fans," said George Mategakis, the SIAC's interim commissioner.

"We want our participating student-athletes to have a once in a lifetime type of experience and will be working on making that happen." In some circles, the Pioneer is known as the Tuskegee Invitational because the resident SIAC power doesn't participate in the Division II playoffs. Not only will the Golden Tigers not get a postseason berth, the stakes in Saturday's CIAA championship game between Shaw and Elizabeth City State will for all the marbles. The winner has a chance at the playoffs.

The loser will surely go home. "We've got to win out so we can go to the playoffs," said Shaw running back Aaron Ellison. "The goal is the playoffs. We want to win the nationals, not just the CI."