As stated earlier, I have been around high school and college football most of my adult life and the various classifications used by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) continue to confuse me.

What used to be Division 1AA has now become the Championship Division and the old Division 1A is now the Bowl Division. I can only guess the reasoning behind those changes are that the old Division 1AA does have a championship play off system, while the old Division 1A teams are eligible for bowl games.

More and more schools are attempting to move up to the Bowl Division, because it would improve their chances of getting into a conference and thereby create chances for bowl invitations and a piece of the bowl money pie.

While on the conference topic, I saw where the Big West Conference (Championship Division) has expanded and will now include New Jersey Tech. Last time I looked, New Jersey was about as far from the West as you can get.

Most fans know that Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss compete in the NCAA Bowl Division. Jackson State, Alcorn and Mississippi Valley State are in the NCAA Championship Division. Delta State is in Division II while Millsaps and Mississippi College compete at the Division III level, which also has a Championship playoff.

Belhaven has, for the past few years, fielded a football team, but I don’t know if they play in the Championship Division, Division III, or NAIA. Hattiesburg’s William Carey College competes in sports other than football, but I do not know their classification.

The National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame admitted its latest group Saturday. As usual, there were a number of inductees I had never heard of.

Why a former great football player and person like Natchez’ Joe Fortunato has never been selected, I do not know. I have been told that one of the criteria is to have been named to a “generally accepted” All America team. Joe played on losing teams at Mississippi State, but his post-college career alone should lead to his selection to the Hall of Fame.

The only members of this year’s class to be inducted into the Hall of Fame I officiated for are Doug Flutie (Boston College vs. Notre Dame in the Liberty Bowl) Wilson Whitley (Houston vs. Southern Mississippi, about 1975) Chris Zorich (Notre Dame vs. Miami, 1989) and Coach Joe Paterno (Penn State, several games including National Championship Fiesta Bowl vs. Miami, 1987.)

Unfortunately, no Natchez golfers are among the leaders in the MPGA Invitational Golf Tournament at Windance on the coast. Natchez amateur Greg Brooking and former Belwood and Beau Pré pro Mark Powell made the cut but are well down the list. Unlike those players at the British Open, the Mississippi golfers can’t blame their scores on the weather.

Vidalia’s Jarrett Hoffpauir continues to flirt with the .300 batting mark and now stands at .297 with AAA Memphis. Natchezian Nook Logan stands at .301 with independent Long Island.

Another comment about the College Football Hall of Fame: Mississippi can look with pride at former Jackson State Coach W. C. Gordon’s selection.

And, That’s Official.

Al Graning writes a weekly column for The Democrat.