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Orange Blossom Classic

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For the LPGA Tour golf tournament known by this name during the 1970s, see St. Petersburg Women's Open.
Orange Blossom Classic
StadiumHard Rock Stadium
LocationMiami Gardens, Florida
Previous stadiumsSeveral, including the Miami Orange Bowl and Tinker Field
Previous locationsMiami, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa
Operated1933–1978; 2021–present
Sponsors
Denny's (2021–present)
2024 matchup
North Carolina Central vs. Alabama State
(North Carolina Central 31–24)
2025 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.

History

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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 a hour and twenty minute delay because of lightning in the area.

Game results

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1933–1978

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[6]

Year Site Winner Loser Ref. Attendance
1933 Jacksonville, Florida Florida A&M 9 Howard 6 [7]
1934 Jacksonville, Florida Florida A&M 13 Virginia State 12 [8]
1935 Jacksonville, Florida Kentucky State‡ 19 Florida A&M 9 [9][10]
1936 Jacksonville, Florida Prairie View A&M 6 Florida A&M 0 [11]
1937 Orlando, Florida Florida A&M 25 Hampton 20 [12] 3,000
1938 Orlando, Florida Florida A&M‡ 9 Kentucky State 7 [13]
1939 Orlando, Florida Florida A&M 42 Wiley 0 [14]
1940 Orlando, Florida Wilberforce 0–0 Florida A&M [15]
1941 Orlando, Florida Florida A&M 15 Tuskegee 7 [16] 8,200
1942 Jacksonville, Florida Florida A&M‡ 12 Texas College 6 [17]
1943 Jacksonville, Florida Hampton 39 Florida A&M 0
1944 Jacksonville, Florida Virginia State 19 Florida A&M 6
1945 Jacksonville, Florida Wiley‡ 32 Florida A&M 6 8,000
1946 Tampa, Florida #20 Lincoln (PA) 20 #8 Florida A&M 0 9,000
1947 Miami, Florida #3 Florida A&M 7 #4 Hampton 0 19,000
1948 Miami, Florida #10 Virginia Union 10 #5 Florida A&M 6 16,000
1949 Miami, Florida #6 North Carolina A&T 20 #5 Florida A&M 14
1950 Miami, Florida #12 Wilberforce State 13 #1 Florida A&M‡ 6 19,317
1951 Miami, Florida #2 Florida A&M 67 #7 North Carolina College 6 23,446
1952 Miami, Florida #1 Florida A&M‡ 29 #2 Virginia State 7 35,064
1953 Miami, Florida #1 Prairie View A&M‡ 33 #2 Florida A&M‡ 27 41,313
1954 Miami, Florida #2 Florida A&M‡ 67 #6 Maryland State[a] 19 41,179
1955 Miami, Florida #1 Grambling‡ 28 #3 Florida A&M 21 40,319
1956 Miami, Florida #1 Tennessee A&I‡ 41 #2 Florida A&M 39 41,808
1957 Miami, Florida #1 Florida A&M‡ 27 #4 Maryland State[a] 21 37,000
1958 Miami, Florida #1 Prairie View A&M‡ 26 #3 Florida A&M 8 39,426
1959 Miami, Florida #1 Florida A&M‡ 28 #4 Prairie View A&M 7 43,645
1960 Miami, Florida #2 Florida A&M 40 Langston 26 42,080
1961 Miami, Florida #1 Florida A&M‡ 14 #2 Jackson State 8 47,791
1962 Miami, Florida #2 Jackson State‡ 22 #1 Florida A&M‡ 6 43,461
1963 Miami, Florida #4 Florida A&M 30 #3 Morgan State 7
1964 Miami, Florida #2 Florida A&M 42 #3 Grambling 15
1965 Miami, Florida #2 Morgan State 36 #3 Florida A&M 7
1966 Miami, Florida Florida A&M 43 Alabama A&M 26
1967 Miami, Florida #2 Grambling‡ 28 #4 Florida A&M 25
1968 Miami, Florida #3 Alcorn A&M‡ 36 #7 Florida A&M 9 37,398
1969 Tallahassee, Florida #3 Florida A&M 23 #5 Grambling 19 36,784
1970 Miami, Florida Jacksonville State 21 Florida A&M 7 31,184
1971 Miami, Florida Florida A&M 27 Kentucky State 9 26,161
1972 Miami, Florida Florida A&M 41 Maryland Eastern Shore[a] 21 21,606
1973 Miami, Florida Florida A&M 23 #11 South Carolina State 12 18,996
1974 Miami, Florida #20 Florida A&M 17 #6 Howard 13 20,166
1975 Miami, Florida #2 Florida A&M 40 #8 Kentucky State 13 27,875
1976 Miami, Florida #20 Florida A&M 26 #16 Central State 21 18,000
1977 Miami, Florida #1 Florida A&M‡ 37 #8 Delaware State 15 29,493
1978 Miami, Florida #1 Florida A&M‡ 31 #2 Grambling State 7 35,499

‡ 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

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Year Site Winner Loser Ref. 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 24 10,256

Appearances by school

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No. School Record
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 0–2
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:[21]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d The University of Maryland Eastern Shore was known as Maryland State College until 1970.

References

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  1. ^ a b c 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. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Florida A&M leave Orange Blossom Classic". yahoo. 4 September 2023.
  6. ^ http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2022/Bowls.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  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. ^ Official 2007 NCAA Division I Football Records Book, National Collegiate Athletic Association, p. 367–368.
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