Southern University Athletic Director Greg LaFleur was smiling long before his Jaguars defeated rival Grambling State University in the State Farm Bayou Classic on Thanksgiving weekend. It wasn't the prospect of winning the game that had him giddy. It was the financial windfall his athletic department was about to get out of the game. With their huge corporate sponsors, big profits and wide visibility, the classics are the financial linchpin for many HBCU athletic departments. Like most other collegiate athletic programs, HBCU athletic departments struggle to finish in the black financially each year. The margin for error is almost always narrow, especially at small schools. Because a home game may draw 20,000 people or less, it's often a wise move to trade it for a classic date, which comes with guaranteed money and the chance to play in front of 70,000 fans or more. In light of the perennial funding crunch for athletic departments, classics could well be the best cure for ailing HBCU programs. Those games that are successful, like the Bayou Classic, help to ensure that all of a school's sports programs will continue that year.