Orange Blossom Classic

Last updated

Orange Blossom Classic
Orange Blossom Classic logo.png
Stadium Hard Rock Stadium
Location Miami Gardens, Florida
Previous stadiumsSeveral, including the Miami Orange Bowl and Tinker Field
Previous locations Miami, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa
Operated1933–1978; 2021–present
Sponsors
Denny's (2021–2024)
Invesco QQQ (2025–present)
2025 matchup
Florida A&M vs. Howard
(Howard 10–9)
2026 matchup
TBD vs. TBD

The Orange Blossom Classic is an American annual college football game first held from 1933 to 1978 and again since 2021. Starting back up in 2021 the game has been played on Labor Day weekend.

Contents

History

In its first incarnation, the Classic featured two historically black colleges and universities (HBCU)—Florida A&M and another program. The game sometimes served as a de facto championship game, [1] depending on the record of the participating teams. The game was played late in the season, with Florida A&M inviting another top black team as its opponent. [1] The game could be seen as a mythical "Black National Championship" game. [2] For example, the December 5, 1942, Afro American newspaper refers to the 1942 game as a national title game, as does at least one source for the 1945 game. [3] From 1952 to 1962, 10 of the 11 teams that won the Classic were named national champions. However, there were also numerous seasons in which neither Florida A&M nor its Classic opponent were selected as national champions.

The Classic was discontinued after its 1978 playing. The name was sometimes applied to subsequent regular-season meetings between Florida A&M and the FIU Panthers. [1]

In its second incarnation, the Classic returned in 2021. That season, Florida A&M played Jackson State in a season opening game at Hard Rock Stadium in September. [4] The game has continued as an annual early-season contest between those two programs. The 2022 matchup had the second most viewed HBCU football game with close to 958,000 viewers, trailing only the Celebration Bowl. In 2024 Florida A&M will no longer play in the game and the will find another team to play Jackson State. [5] In 2024 the game had a weather delay for an hour and twenty minute delay because of lightning in the area.

Game results

1933–1978

[6]

YearSiteWinnerLoserRef.Attendance
1933 Jacksonville, Florida Florida A&M 9 Howard 6 [7]
1934Jacksonville, Florida Florida A&M 13 Virginia State 12 [8]
1935Jacksonville, Florida Kentucky State ‡ 19 Florida A&M 9 [9] [10]
1936Jacksonville, Florida Prairie View A&M 6 Florida A&M 0 [11]
1937 Orlando, Florida Florida A&M 25 Hampton 20 [12] 3,000
1938Orlando, Florida Florida A&M ‡ 9 Kentucky State 7 [13]
1939Orlando, Florida Florida A&M 42 Wiley 0 [14]
1940Orlando, Florida Wilberforce 0–0 Florida A&M [15]
1941Orlando, Florida Florida A&M 15 Tuskegee 7 [16] 8,200
1942Jacksonville, Florida Florida A&M ‡ 12 Texas College 6 [17]
1943Jacksonville, Florida Hampton 39 Florida A&M 0
1944Jacksonville, Florida Virginia State 19 Florida A&M 6
1945Jacksonville, Florida Wiley ‡ 32 Florida A&M 68,000
1946 Tampa, Florida #20 Lincoln (PA) 20#8 Florida A&M 09,000
1947 Miami, Florida #3 Florida A&M 7 #4 Hampton 019,000
1948Miami, Florida#10 Virginia Union 10 #5 Florida A&M 616,000
1949Miami, Florida#6 North Carolina A&T 20 #5 Florida A&M 14
1950Miami, Florida#12 Wilberforce State 13#1 Florida A&M ‡619,317
1951Miami, Florida#2 Florida A&M 67 #7 North Carolina College 623,446
1952Miami, Florida#1 Florida A&M ‡ 29 #2 Virginia State 735,064
1953Miami, Florida#1 Prairie View A&M ‡ 33 #2 Florida A&M ‡2741,313
1954Miami, Florida#2 Florida A&M ‡ 67 #6 Maryland State [a] 1941,179
1955Miami, Florida#1 Grambling ‡ 28 #3 Florida A&M 2140,319
1956Miami, Florida#1 Tennessee A&I ‡ 41 #2 Florida A&M 3941,808
1957Miami, Florida#1 Florida A&M ‡ 27#4 Maryland State [a] 2137,000
1958Miami, Florida#1 Prairie View A&M ‡ 26 #3 Florida A&M 839,426
1959Miami, Florida#1 Florida A&M ‡ 28#4 Prairie View A&M 743,645
1960Miami, Florida#2 Florida A&M 40 Langston 2642,080
1961Miami, Florida#1 Florida A&M ‡ 14 #2 Jackson State 847,791
1962Miami, Florida#2 Jackson State ‡ 22 #1 Florida A&M ‡643,461
1963Miami, Florida#4 Florida A&M 30 #3 Morgan State 7
1964Miami, Florida#2 Florida A&M 42#3 Grambling 15
1965Miami, Florida#2 Morgan State 36#3 Florida A&M 7
1966Miami, Florida Florida A&M 43 Alabama A&M 26
1967Miami, Florida#2 Grambling ‡ 28#4 Florida A&M 25
1968Miami, Florida#3 Alcorn A&M ‡ 36#7 Florida A&M 937,398
1969 Tallahassee, Florida #3 Florida A&M 23#5 Grambling 1936,784
1970Miami, Florida Jacksonville State 21 Florida A&M 731,184
1971Miami, Florida Florida A&M 27 Kentucky State 926,161
1972Miami, Florida Florida A&M 41 Maryland Eastern Shore [a] 2121,606
1973Miami, Florida Florida A&M 23#11 South Carolina State 1218,996
1974Miami, Florida#20 Florida A&M 17#6 Howard 1320,166
1975Miami, Florida#2 Florida A&M 40 #8 Kentucky State 1327,875
1976Miami, Florida#20 Florida A&M 26#16 Central State 2118,000
1977Miami, Florida#1 Florida A&M ‡ 37#8 Delaware State 1529,493
1978Miami, Florida#1 Florida A&M ‡ 31#2 Grambling State 735,499

‡ Denotes a team selected as Black college football national champions for the season in question (in some seasons, different teams were named champions by different selectors).

Rankings from The Pittsburgh Courier (1946–1958, 1961–1969), Associated Negro Press (1959–1960), and Jet (1973–1978)

2021–present

YearSiteWinnerLoserRef.Attendance
2021 Miami Gardens, Florida Jackson State 7 Florida A&M 6 [18] 31,000
2022 Jackson State 59 Florida A&M 3 [19] 39,907
2023 Florida A&M ‡28 Jackson State 10 [20] 24,967
2024 North Carolina Central 31 Alabama State 2410,256
2025 Howard 10 Florida A&M 9 [21] 22,455

Appearances by team

No.SchoolRecord
48 Florida A&M 27–21–1
6 Grambling State 3–3
5 Jackson State 3–2
4 Kentucky State 1–3
4 Prairie View A&M 3–1
3 Central State 1–1–1
3 Hampton 1–2
3 Maryland Eastern Shore [a] 0–3
3 Virginia State 1–2
2 Howard 1–2
2 Morgan State 1-1
2 Wiley 1–1
1 Alabama A&M 0–1
1 Alcorn State 1–0
1 Delaware State 0–1
1 Jacksonville State 1–0
1 Langston 0–1
1 North Carolina A&T 1–0
1 North Carolina Central 0–1
1 South Carolina State 0–1
1 Tennessee State 1–0
1 Texas College 0–1
1 Tuskegee 0–1
1 Virginia Union 1–0
1 Alabama State 0–1

Source: [22]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 The University of Maryland Eastern Shore was known as Maryland State College until 1970.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Super Bowl Catches Up to Orange Blossom Classic, The New York Times , February 3, 2007, retrieved February 7, 2009.
  2. ↑ Tremene Triplett, Fans, coaches, athletes reminisce about the historic Orange Blossom Classic, South Florida Times, March 14, 2008, retrieved February 7, 2009.
  3. ↑ "UW Athletics Black History: football assistant coach Les Ritcherson". media-newswire.com. February 17, 2011.
  4. ↑ "HBCU Football: The Orange Blossom Classic returns after 43 years". Saturday Blitz. May 18, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Florida A&M leave Orange Blossom Classic". yahoo. September 4, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Bowl/all star game records" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 26, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Florida A. & M. Upsets Howard, 9-6, In Thriller". Pittsburgh Courier . December 9, 1933. pp. 2–5. Retrieved August 20, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Rattlers Nose Out Trojans, 13 To 12". Pittsburgh Courier . December 15, 1934. pp. 2–5. Retrieved August 20, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Negro Football". Miami Herald . December 8, 1935. p. 1-C. Retrieved August 20, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Rattlers Hold KY. In Hectic 2nd Half". Pittsburgh Courier . December 14, 1935. pp. 2–4. Retrieved August 20, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "5,000 See Prairie View Beat Florida, 6-0, In Orange Blossom Game". St. Louis Argus . December 11, 1936. p. 6. Retrieved August 20, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Hampton Loses To A.&M. 25-20". The Sunday Sentinel-Star. December 5, 1937. p. 7 – via newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Florida Rattlers Beat Kentucky, 9-7, For National Title". The Tallahassee Daily Democrat. December 4, 1938. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Moorne, Halody (December 16, 1939). "Florida's Orange Blossom Classic Is Joke Of Season". The Black Dispatch . Oklahoma City. p. 8. Retrieved August 20, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Jones, Melancholy (December 14, 1940). "Terrific Defenses Feature 0-0 Tie At Orlando; 7,000 See 8th Classic". The Phoenix Index. p. 6. Retrieved August 20, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Tuskegee Loses To Florida A. And M., Orange Blossom Tilt". The Birmingham News . Birmingham, Alabama. AP. December 7, 1941. p. Sports 8. Retrieved August 20, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Florida Takes Over Negro College Title". Star-News . Wilmington, North Carolina. AP. December 13, 1942. p. 8. Retrieved August 20, 2023– via newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Jackson, Wilton (September 6, 2021). "Deion Sanders's Defense Seals Victory for Jackson State in Orange Blossom Classic vs. Florida A&M". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  19. ↑ Becton, Stan (September 4, 2022). "How Jackson State dominated Florida A&M 59-3 to win 2022 Orange Blossom Classic". NCAA.com. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  20. ↑ Kelley, Kevin (January 6, 2023). "Jackson State, Florida A&M to play in 2023 Orange Blossom Classic". fbschedules.com. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  21. ↑ https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap?gameId=401767350%7C "Starks, in first college start, leads Howard past Florida A&M 10-9 with two-minute drill heroics"
  22. ↑ Official 2007 NCAA Division I Football Records Book, National Collegiate Athletic Association, p. 367–368.
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