Black and gold versus blue and gold.
Country versus city.
Human Jukebox versus the large drum that Southern graduate Allen Keller Jr. once brought up on Twitter.
Noted Grambling alum TJ versus numerous Southern alums.
In Louisiana, the rivalry isn’t LSU-Alabama.
Nor is it Saints-Falcons.
The rivalry that grabs this state’s attention is Grambling-Southern, especially among Black folks in this state.
If you’re born into a Grambling family, chances are you’re going to grow up rocking Grambling black and gold.
The same could also be said if you were born in a Southern family. You’re not rocking anything but baby blue and gold.
I got my first glimpse of the Bayou Classic, the annual neutral site gridiron battle between the two schools on a rainy Saturday afternoon, from the comforts of the chilly Superdome press box.
The last time I remembered going to the Bayou Classic, was two years before Katrina when my high school’s band performed in the parade. I don’t remember much from that trip, except the fact that it was cold as fuck and of course, there were a lot of hijinks. If I recall there were rumors of a sex tape that got circulated from that trip, but nothing of the sort ever came out to the open at our school.
For Southern, the objective was simple. Win this game and you get a rematch with Jackson State in Jackson as representatives of the SWAC West Division.
You also make it four out of five against against your hated rivals.
Grambling, on the other hand, was looking to next season and of course, keep TJ non-violent.
And while it looked like Southern was playing with their food against the Tigers early on, Southern woke up in the fourth quarter.
Spearheaded by a 22-yard run by quarterback BeSean McCray as well as a scoop and score by Jordan Carter, Southern clinched the SWAC West Divison and their fourth Bayou Classic triumph in five years with a 34-17 victory against Grambling.
After the game, noted yoga instructor and proud Southern alum Maya Dasani Jones had this to say on Twitter.
“YALL SAID GRUMBLING WAS GONNA SHOW US!!!!!”