The Florida Classic is more than just a football game and more than an in-state rivalry. It is now the largest football game between two historically Black Colleges in America, surpassing the Bayou Classic between Grambling and Southern in New Orleans as the top attended game in NCAA Division I-AA as well as the nation’s largest football game between two Historically Black College/University (HBCU) schools. Since its inception in 1978, the game has now seen over 1.5 million spectators attend the game. The series began in 1925, with Florida A&M winning 25-0. B-CU’s (then B-CC) first win came a year later, 12-0 in 1926. Despite FAMU’s early dominance in the series overall (at one point, the Rattlers won 19 straight), the two schools drew ever-increasing crowds until they had to abandon their home stadiums for larger venues.
This year for the 36th time, millions of fans trekked to Orlando Camping World Stadium to cheer historic rivals Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University for a game and half-time show experience! Other activities included the battle of the bands, Florida Classic Consortium Kickoff Luncheon presented by Florida Blue and a diversity job fair. The Florida Blue Florida Classic is a weekend where college friends reunite, families come together and fans show out for an O-town Showdown to witness the FAMU Rattlers and B-CU Wildcats battle it out on the gridiron for bragging rights. The Florida Classic is the biggest black college football game in the country. Rattlers fell 39-19 to B-CU.
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