Atlanta Daily World

BY MARION E. JACKSON
Scott Newspaper Syndicate Sports Writer
TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE, Ala. - Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Ga., meets South Carolina State, Orangeburg, in the opening round of the 24th Annual Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference basketball tournament today at 1:00 P. M. in Logan Hall.

The Wolverines (17-4 only three-time champions in history having won in 1949-50-51, are bracketed in the "killer division" against the ten-ranked Bulldogs (6-7) who turned into a gargantua in the final stages of the 1956-57 race. The Wolverines and Bulldogs take up exactly where they left off in the '56 tournament when the Atlantas won in the consolation finals.
However, experts view the most evenly-matched tournament in history" as made to order for upsets. Oracles peering behind destiny's curtain see a road littered with pacesetters. The consensus is that performance will be pretty much "even Stephen" on the basis of competitive charts for the past season.
Morris Brown, seeded No. 1, is followed by Alabama State's visitation titlists bracketed No. 2 and Florida A. and M. and Benedict College, third and fourth respectively.
Other rated fives are Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.; Lane College, Jackson, Tenn. Bethune Cookman, Daytona Beach, Fla., Knoxville College Knoxville, Tenn., and South Carolina State Orangeburg.
Logan Hall, spic and span, and with dramatically-colored boundary line are all set for three days of atomicized play.
Knoxville College Knoxville, Tenn. which defeated Morehouse 102-74 in last year's finals in rated one of the teams to beat.
Morehouse College (17-3) a year ago and Xavier University are setting out this year's show. Returning to the tournament wars are Bethune Cookman and Lane College.
Working officials named for the tournament are Earl R. Wynn (Tennessee State), Raymond Wainwright (Clark College), Vernon Colbert (Johnson C. Smith) and Luther Bligen (South Carolina State).
Several high school quintets will be guest of Tuskegee Institute during the hoop extravaganza. The list includes: Tates Chapel Junior Hi. Hamilton, Ga.; Howard High School, Chattanooga, Tenn., and 4-H boys and girls, Marianna, Fla.
How they finished in 1955-56 is as follows:
1, Knoxville College; 2 Morehouse College; 3. Alabama State; 4. Morris Brown; 5. Fisk University; 6, South Carolina State; 7, Florida A and M.; 8, Benedict College; 9. Xavier University; 10 Clark College; 11, Bethune Cookman; 12, Tuskegee Institute; 13, Lane College; 14, Allen University; 15 LeMoyne College; 16. Fort Valley State and 17. Alabama A. and M.
In winning last year's tournament Knoxville College entered the win column for the first time. Winners for previous years were:
1934-South Carolina State College
1934-Tuskegee Institute
1935-Alabama State College
1936-Alabama State College
1937-Morehouse College
1938-Xavier University
1939-Xavier University
1940-Clark College
1941-Xavier University
1942-Florida A. and M. University
1943-South Carolina State College
1944-Tuskegee Institute
1945-Florida A. and M. University
1946-Morehouse College
1947-Florida A. and M. University
1948-Tuskegee Institute
1949-Morris Brown College
1950-Morris Brown College
1951-Morris Brown College
1952-Florida A. and M. University
1953-Bethune-Cookman College
1954-Clark College
1955-Florida A. and M. University