The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), with all but one member located in the Southern United States.
The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was known as the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship.
The Heritage Bowl was a NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) bowl game held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The bowl pitted a team from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) against a team from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). It was hoped that it would become a true national championship game for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). It was a successor to the Pelican Bowl, which matched MEAC and SWAC teams during the 1970s, and a predecessor to the Celebration Bowl of the 2010s.
The Alcorn State Braves are the college football team of Alcorn State University. The Braves play in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
The Florida A&M Rattlers represent Florida A&M University (FAMU) in college athletics. Florida A&M is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and participates in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). FAMU offers men's sports in baseball, basketball, football, golf, and track and field. It offers women's sports in basketball, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, softball, tennis, track and field and volleyball.
The Florida A&M Rattlers football team represents Florida A&M University in the sport of American football. The Rattlers compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Starting with the fall 2021 season, the Rattlers will compete in the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), after a long tenure in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They play their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee. The Rattlers have won 16 black college football national championship, 29 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) titles, eight MEAC titles, one SWAC title and one I-AA national title in the history of their football program. During the 2004 season, the Rattlers briefly attempted to move up to Division I-A and become the only HBCU at college football's highest level, but the team was forced to abort its bid.
The 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-AA level, began in August 1981 and concluded with the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 19, 1981, at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Idaho State Bengals won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in the Pioneer Bowl, 34−23.
Joe Taylor is an American college athletics administrator and former football coach. He is the athletic director at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia, a position he has held since 2013. Taylor served as the head football coach at Howard University in 1983, Virginia Union from 1984 to 1991, Hampton University from 1992 to 2007, and Florida A&M University from 2008 to 2012, compiling a career college football coaching record of 232–96–4. Taylor led the Hampton Pirates to five black college football national championships and eight conference titles. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019.
Rudy Hubbard is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Florida A&M University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, Florida from 1974 to 1985, compiling a record of 83–48–3. Hubbard led the Florida A&M Rattlers to the inaugural NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship, in 1978, and consecutive black college football national championships, in 1977 and 1978. Hubbard played college football at Ohio State University, lettering from 1965 to 1967. Following his graduation from Ohio State in 1968, he remained with the Buckeyes for six seasons as an assistant coach under Woody Hayes. In 2008, Hubbard returned to coaching the high school level, serving as head football coach at James S. Rickards High School in Tallahassee for four seasons.
The 1978 UMass Minutemen football team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season as a member of the Yankee Conference. The team was coached by Bob Pickett and played its home games at Alumni Stadium in Hadley, Massachusetts. The 1978 season was the first after the NCAA split Division I football into two subdivisions, and the first that featured a postseason playoff for Division I-AA. The Minutemen reached this inaugural championship game, losing to Florida A&M, 35–28. UMass finished the season with a record of 9–4 overall and 5–0 in conference play.
The 1977 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began in August 1977 and concluded with the championship game on December 10 at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Lehigh Engineers defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 33–0 in the Pioneer Bowl to win their first Division II national title.
The 1978 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began in August 1978, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship in December 1978 at Lobo Stadium in Longview, Texas. The Eastern Illinois Panthers defeated the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens, 10–9, to win their first Division II national title.
The 1978 NAIA Division I football season was the 23rd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the ninth season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.
The 1978 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1978 college football season in the United States and the 23rd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the ninth season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.
The 1978 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Florida A&M Rattlers and the UMass Minutemen. The game was played on December 16, 1978, at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The culminating game of the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Florida A&M, 35–28.
The 1978 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Rattlers had an overall record of 12–1 and were the Division I-AA national champions.
The 1962 Florida A&M Rattlers football team was an American football team that represented Florida A&M University as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) in the 1962 NCAA College Division football season. In their 18th season under head coach Jake Gaither, the Rattlers compiled a 9–1 record, were ranked No. 1 in the final 1962 AP small college poll and No. 2 in the final UPI coaches poll, and suffered its sole loss to Jackson State in the Orange Blossom Classic. Florida A&M shared the SIAC title with Alabama A&M.
The 1995 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 1995 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Rattlers were led by second-year head coach Billy Joe and played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. They finished the season with an overall record of 9–3 and a mark of 6–0 in conference play, winning the MEAC title. Florida A&M was invited to the Heritage Bowl, where they lost to Southern.
NCAA Division II bowl games are American college football bowl games played annually among some of the highest-ranking NCAA Division II football teams not invited to participate in the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs. The games are officially recognized by the NCAA. They are held in December, and are most commonly scheduled on the first Saturday of the month, three weeks after the final games of the Division II football regular season.
The Gold Bowl was an American college football bowl game between teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association (CIAA), two athletic conferences traditionally consisting of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The game was played on a Saturday in early December from 1976 through 1980 at City Stadium in Richmond, Virginia. Reflecting its origins in the bicentennial year, the first edition of the game was called the Bicentennial Bowl.
