HBCU football headed to the Midwest this weekend.

[ASU33]

Usually the Chicago Classic and the Circle City Classic are two weeks apart but this year they're on the same day for the first time in history. The Circle City Classic was once the largest HBCU Classic in the Midwest until 2014 where promoters signed a four year contract to have D2 Kentucky State and Central State playing in the ball game instead of the usual FCS HBCUs. Attendance dropped from 50,000 down to 31,000 during that time. Now this year the Circle City Classic will feature Howard and Bethune-Cookman in a MEAC conference matchup and early ticket sales are significantly up from the previous 4 seasons.


The Chicago Classic tried to get a premier HBCU match up with FCS schools but was unable to so their matchup will feature two D2 HBCUs from the SIAC Conference Miles College and Morehouse. Miles and Morehouse are two of the attendance leaders in D2 football so the promoters at the Chicago Classic hope that the attendance doesn't take a drop without the larger FCS HBCUs involved.

[cx500d]

Are there any HBCU games that aren't "Classic?"

[PantherRob82]

I thought you meant Hampton at UNI. Glad to see a new team in the Dome.

[Laker]

I thought you meant Hampton at UNI. Glad to see a new team in the Dome.

If this game had been at 7 PM instead of 4 PM I would have come down from Winona after the MSU game.

[ASU33]

I thought you meant Hampton at UNI. Glad to see a new team in the Dome.

Crazy part is that Hampton was originally supposed to play in Chicago against Tennessee State but Hampton wanted more home games against HBCU squads at home after the whole MEAC divorce fiasco took place so they pulled out of negotiations for the game.

[DFW HOYA]

A check at Ticketmaster indicates thousands of available tickets for the Chicago game. Maybe an 0-3 record doesn't matter in "classic" football, but Miles (enrollment: 1,823) isn't the draw that Grambling or FAMU would be.

[ASU33]

A check at Ticketmaster indicates thousands of available tickets for the Chicago game. Maybe an 0-3 record doesn't matter in "classic" football, but Miles (enrollment: 1,823) isn't the draw that Grambling or FAMU would be.

Believe it or not Grambling isn't as big of a draw as you would think they would be. Grambling played in the Chicago Classic last year and the game drew under 20,000 which was the smallest crowd in the history of the game. Grambling doesn't have a great traveling fan base outside of traveling to Alcorn, Jackson State, Dallas for the State Fair Classic, and New Orleans for The Bayou Classic.

[JacksFan40]

One just came to the Midwest and gave up 90 points, so that’s good.

[ASU33]

One just came to the Midwest and gave up 90 points, so that’s good.

You beat a team who's been in the dungeon of the conference for the last 5 years and who gave a D2 school their lone win a year ago. Congratulations you beat a team that in the last 4 seasons has 3 D2 losses, an NAIA loss, a 8-35 record overall and 5-29 Conference record over that time. This team was beat at home by Mississippi Valley State a year ago 41-7 but congratulations! Not sure what UAPB has to do with the topic at all.

[Panther88]

You beat a team who's been in the dungeon of the conference for the last 5 years and who gave a D2 school their lone win a year ago. Congratulations you beat a team that in the last 4 seasons has 3 D2 losses, an NAIA loss, a 8-35 record overall and 5-29 Conference record over that time. This team was beat at home by Mississippi Valley State a year ago 41-7 but congratulations! Not sure what UAPB has to do with the topic at all.
Absolutely nothing. To add, their 3rd string qb played and they left 5 of their starting DBs at home. Do the math.

[cx500d]

You beat a team who's been in the dungeon of the conference for the last 5 years and who gave a D2 school their lone win a year ago. Congratulations you beat a team that in the last 4 seasons has 3 D2 losses, an NAIA loss, a 8-35 record overall and 5-29 Conference record over that time. This team was beat at home by Mississippi Valley State a year ago 41-7 but congratulations! Not sure what UAPB has to do with the topic at all.
The dungeon? They played within 14 points to all the swac teams last year except pvam. 3 swac games were within one score, and they beat Jackson state...yes bottom dweller, but apparently not that far off the bottom.

[JacksFan40]

You beat a team who's been in the dungeon of the conference for the last 5 years and who gave a D2 school their lone win a year ago. Congratulations you beat a team that in the last 4 seasons has 3 D2 losses, an NAIA loss, a 8-35 record overall and 5-29 Conference record over that time. This team was beat at home by Mississippi Valley State a year ago 41-7 but congratulations! Not sure what UAPB has to do with the topic at all.
I made a joke and you get your panties in a bunch about it. Yes Pine Bluff is horrid, but as stated before they aren’t that far from the rest of the SWAC.
2017 Conference Results for Pine Bluff.

@ Jackson State W 34-27 OT
@ Alabama A&M L 27-14
Vs MVSU L 38-31
Vs Southern L 47-40
Vs Grambling State L 31-26
@ Prairie View L 35-12
Vs Texas Southern L 24-10

Outside of Prairie View, they were within striking distance of winning and in some 1, big play could’ve won them the game.
They lost to SWAC Champion and Celebration Bowl Runner Up Grambling State by 5, and Grambling only lost by 7 to A&T.
Im not saying Pine Bluff would’ve played a close game against A&T, but it’s obvious that they ain’t exactly awful in comparison to the conference when they could easily have been a 6-7 win team.
And we beat them 90-6 and your conferences finest struggled, Jesus Christ the SWAC sucks.
And even if they had their QB against us it wouldn’t have made a difference, still would’ve won by 70.

[ASU33]

The dungeon? They played within 14 points to all the swac teams last year except pvam. 3 swac games were within one score, and they beat Jackson state...yes bottom dweller, but apparently not that far off the bottom.

Pine-Bluff 2017 isn't Pine-Bluff this year. Most of those kids aren't even on the roster due to a coaching change and scholarship reductions due to probation.

[Bison56]

Pine-Bluff 2017 isn't Pine-Bluff this year. Most of those kids aren't even on the roster due to a coaching change and scholarship reductions due to probation.
Are you moving the goal post?

[Professor]

Usually the Chicago Classic and the Circle City Classic are two weeks apart but this year they're on the same day for the first time in history. The Circle City Classic was once the largest HBCU Classic in the Midwest until 2014 where promoters signed a four year contract to have D2 Kentucky State and Central State playing in the ball game instead of the usual FCS HBCUs. Attendance dropped from 50,000 down to 31,000 during that time. Now this year the Circle City Classic will feature Howard and Bethune-Cookman in a MEAC conference matchup and early ticket sales are significantly up from the previous 4 seasons.



The Chicago Classic tried to get a premier HBCU match up with FCS schools but was unable to so their matchup will feature two D2 HBCUs from the SIAC Conference Miles College and Morehouse. Miles and Morehouse are two of the attendance leaders in D2 football so the promoters at the Chicago Classic hope that the attendance doesn't take a drop without the larger FCS HBCUs involved.


Got to get better sponsors so the payouts will be better. Better payouts equal better teams. That four year deal was dumb. But not the 1st bad move by classic promoters. I think both will be back , because the lack of HBCU football in the areas. Will need some strategic planning tho

[Professor]

Are there any HBCU games that aren't "Classic?"

There are plenty. What's funny is that the concept has been borrowed in the FCS and FBS ranks.

[ASU33]

Got to get better sponsors so the payouts will be better. Better payouts equal better teams. That four year deal was dumb. But not the 1st bad move by classic promoters. I think both will be back , because the lack of HBCU football in the areas. Will need some strategic planning tho

That 4 year deal almost killed the Circle City Classic. Awful move to bring in two teams with virtually no fan bases of their own.

[Panther88]

Are you moving the goal post?

Imitation is the highest form of flattery lol. HBCU goal posts move as well.

[ASU33]

There are plenty. What's funny is that the concept has been borrowed in the FCS and FBS ranks.

Yeah I laughed at an article on ESPN about neutral site games being the newest trend in college football! xlolx

[centennial]

I made a joke and you get your panties in a bunch about it. Yes Pine Bluff is horrid, but as stated before they aren’t that far from the rest of the SWAC.
2017 Conference Results for Pine Bluff.

@ Jackson State W 34-27 OT
@ Alabama A&M L 27-14
Vs MVSU L 38-31
Vs Southern L 47-40
Vs Grambling State L 31-26
@ Prairie View L 35-12
Vs Texas Southern L 24-10

Outside of Prairie View, they were within striking distance of winning and in some 1, big play could’ve won them the game.
They lost to SWAC Champion and Celebration Bowl Runner Up Grambling State by 5, and Grambling only lost by 7 to A&T.
Im not saying Pine Bluff would’ve played a close game against A&T, but it’s obvious that they ain’t exactly awful in comparison to the conference when they could easily have been a 6-7 win team.
And we beat them 90-6 and your conferences finest struggled, Jesus Christ the SWAC sucks.
And even if they had their QB against us it wouldn’t have made a difference, still would’ve won by 70.
It's like Florida beating Texas State and bragging about it. Your team already embarrassed them. That's enough.

[cx500d]

Pine-Bluff 2017 isn't Pine-Bluff this year. Most of those kids aren't even on the roster due to a coaching change and scholarship reductions due to probation.


Dude, you said "...in the dungeon of the conference for the last 5 years and who gave a D2 school their lone win a year ago." ....2017 was in the last 5 years, correct?

[ASU33]

Dude, you said "...in the dungeon of the conference for the last 5 years and who gave a D2 school their lone win a year ago." ....2017 was in the last 5 years, correct?

UAPB was 2-9 last year and 1-6 in conference play.

[OhioHen]

UAPB was 2-9 last year and 1-6 in conference play.

But they were COMPETITIVE in the conference as was pointed out. They may have been in last place, but playing everybody close and not catching any breaks hardly qualifies as "in the dungeon" (basement yes, dungeon no).

[GAD]

Games like these helped put our schools on the map, we have lots of students who come from these areas after we play there. I met so many people from Rockford, Ill who were on our campus. You could ask them "What made you decide to come to school down here?" they would answer "I went to the Classic, I was going to a local school but when I saw those teams, bands, fans I just knew that was where I wanted to be".


They should get the Urban League Classic going again

[OhioHen]

Games like these helped put our schools on the map, we have lots of students who come from these areas after we play there. I met so many people from Rockford, Ill who were on our campus. You could ask them "What made you decide to come to school down here?" they would answer "I went to the Classic, I was going to a local school but when I saw those teams, bands, fans I just knew that was where I wanted to be".


They should get the Urban League Classic going again

The effectiveness as a recruiting tool for the general student population is unmatched.

[Panther88]

The effectiveness as a recruiting tool for the general student population is unmatched.

Bar none.

But allow the thread-deflectionist wannabe perfectionists continue to speak about UAPB vs sdsu lol. Gloating over a victory where it was announced that the 3rd str and a true frosh 4th str qb were given playing time. xsmhx Deflectionists, motivate your school to sign a contract w/ Prairie View A&M University fall 2020. We'll knock some reality back into your squad.

[Professor]

Yeah I laughed at an article on ESPN about neutral site games being the newest trend in college football! xlolx

Hilarious. HBCUs have been doing it for years. I laugh at the new thing now, the kickoff classics with the parades , shows and stuff. I told my coworker, HBCU football has been doing this for decades.

[Panther88]

Hilarious. HBCUs have been doing it for years. I laugh at the new thing now, the kickoff classics with the parades , shows and stuff. I told my coworker, HBCU football has been doing this for decades.

Naturally. But, it's the "new" thing. xlolx Totally laughable looking @ appropriation working it's mightily deceitful magic.

[Professor]

The effectiveness as a recruiting tool for the general student population is unmatched.

Even the Celebration Bowl is helping recruiting. Since our 1st appearance , A&T is now getting 15k applications a year.

[ASU33]

Games like these helped put our schools on the map, we have lots of students who come from these areas after we play there. I met so many people from Rockford, Ill who were on our campus. You could ask them "What made you decide to come to school down here?" they would answer "I went to the Classic, I was going to a local school but when I saw those teams, bands, fans I just knew that was where I wanted to be".


They should get the Urban League Classic going again

Yes sir, no doubt. I hope we can get back on the west coast soon! The Classic in Los Angeles was drawing incredible numbers. We benefited so much from playing in the Detroit for the Classic those years in the early 2000s. So many Detroit kids applied to ASU after that and those kids are still coming years later.

[GAD]

Hilarious. HBCUs have been doing it for years. I laugh at the new thing now, the kickoff classics with the parades , shows and stuff. I told my coworker, HBCU football has been doing this for decades.
So many of the people who use to bash to no end saying that's just a horrible idea are now doing them themselvesxlolx

[GAD]

Yes sir, no doubt. I hope we can get back on the west coast soon! The Classic in Los Angeles was drawing incredible numbers. We benefited so much from playing in the Detroit for the Classic those years in the early 2000s. So many Detroit kids applied to ASU after that and those kids are still coming years later.
So true about the west coast, not just LA but San Francisco and Vegas

[ASU33]

So true about the west coast, not just LA but San Francisco and Vegas

The Classic in Vegas was HUGE! I remember playing at ASU when Southern and North Carolina A&T played out there and the local sports media was blown away by the following and crowd that both schools drew. That game out drew the Las Vegas Bowl by a significant amount and folks couldn't believe that 1-AA schools could draw like that.

[Professor]

The Classic in Vegas was HUGE! I remember playing at ASU when Southern and North Carolina A&T played out there and the local sports media was blown away by the following and crowd that both schools drew. That game out drew the Las Vegas Bowl by a significant amount and folks couldn't believe that 1-AA schools could draw like that.

That was a great time. Surprised that game didn't make it.

[GAD]

The Classic in Vegas was HUGE! I remember playing at ASU when Southern and North Carolina A&T played out there and the local sports media was blown away by the following and crowd that both schools drew. That game out drew the Las Vegas Bowl by a significant amount and folks couldn't believe that 1-AA schools could draw like that.
Alot of people didn't even make it inside the stadium the tickets were expensive, so people just went to Walmart purchased cheap grills and tailgated plus I think there as a boxing match that same night

[ASU33]

That was a great time. Surprised that game didn't make it.

Was the 2003 game the last one? I'd also like to see FAMU and Tennessee State go back to playing each other in the Atlanta Football Classic.

[Laker]

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Nebraska adds home game against Bethune-Cookman on Oct. 27 to replace cancelled game vs. Akron. Bethune lost at FAU 49-28 last week

[ASU33]

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Nebraska adds home game against Bethune-Cookman on Oct. 27 to replace cancelled game vs. Akron. Bethune lost at FAU 49-28 last week




And BCU gets a $800,000 payout.

[Laker]

And BCU gets a $800,000 payout.

I would have stepped into the ring with Muhammed Ali in his prime for that kind of money. I could have lasted at least twenty seconds running around before passing out.

[OhioHen]

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Nebraska adds home game against Bethune-Cookman on Oct. 27 to replace cancelled game vs. Akron. Bethune lost at FAU 49-28 last week




Who is Bethune-Cookman dropping from the schedule to add this payday? They already have 11 games.

The only non-conference game remaining is with Mississippi Valley State on October 6.

[Laker]

Who is Bethune-Cookman dropping from the schedule to add this payday? They already have 11 games.

The only non-conference game remaining is with Mississippi Valley State on October 6.

Good question. If that is the case, I suppose they will pay off MVSU.

[Professor]

Good question. If that is the case, I suppose they will pay off MVSU.


The NCAA granted BCU a wavier to have a 12 game this season

[Laker]

The NCAA granted BCU a wavier to have a 12 game this seasonxthumbsupx

[OhioHen]

The NCAA granted BCU a wavier to have a 12 game this season

Thanks for the info. Glad it won't negatively impact another school.