Florida Classic

Florida Classic

Collegebowl
name = BASEPAGENAME
full_name = Florida Classic presented by State Farm
nickname =
defunct =



image_size =
caption =
stadium = Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium
previous_stadiums = Daytona International Speedway
Doak Campbell Stadium
location = Orlando, Florida
previous_locations = Daytona Beach, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
years =
previous_tie-ins =
conference_tie-ins = Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
payout =
sponsors = State Farm Insurance
former_names =
prev_matchup_year = 2007
prev_matchup_season=
prev_matchup_teams = Bethune-Cookman University vs. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
prev_matchup_score = 34-7
next_matchup_year = 2008
next_matchup_season= 2008
next_matchup_teams = Bethune-Cookman University vs. Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
next_matchup_date = November 22
The Florida Classic presented by State Farm (more commonly known as the Florida Classic is the annual college football game between the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman University and the Rattlers of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

The game is televised nationally by ESPNU as a part of a multi-year contract with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).

Since 1997, a total of 689,592 fans have watched the Florida Classic in the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, an average of 68,708 per year. By comparison, the total attendance for the 17 years prior to Orlando was 765,529, an average of only 45,031. Between Orlando and Tampa, the Classic has drawn 1,383,905 fans. The record for attendance at the game is 73,358, set in Orlando in 2003. The series record is FAMU 18, B-CU 10. In Orlando, that record is FAMU 8, B-CU 4.

Annual attendance

The Florida Classic has now drawn in excess of 1.3 million fans since 1978 including 65,367 fans at the 2007 game.

Location

Games were previously held at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, the Daytona International Speedway and Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee until the two schools agreed on a permanent site in Tampa, Florida, in 1978.

History

The series between the two schools began in 1925, with Florida A&M winning 25-0. B-CC’s first win came a year later, 12-0 in 1926. At one stretch, the Rattlers won 19 straight games including a 68-6 victory in 1959, a 97-0 win in 1960 and a 76-0 win in 1961. Overall, the Rattlers lead the 59-game series, 45-15-1.

Florida A&M won the first Florida Classic game in 1978, 27-17, overcoming a 17-0 halftime deficit. The team went on to win the inaugural NCAA Division I-AA championship. Bethune-Cookman made the series competitive starting in 1973, winning 11 of their 14 series victories during that span, including a 58-52 overtime win in 2004, which was the first-ever three-peat for the ‘Cats in the overall series, which dates back to the 1920s. Florida A&M holds an 18-10 edge in the meetings since the instate rivalry moved from a home-and-home scenario to an annual neutral site game in Tampa Stadium in 1978.

The two schools went through a two-year hiatus in 1983 and 1984, when they could not agree on a playing site, but public pressure from alumni, fans and state officials brought them back to the negotiating table and they resumed the series in 1985. Bethune-Cookman won the rivalry renewal game, 31-27 in 1985.

The 1997 season saw a change of venue for the Florida Classic, as the two schools moved the game to Orlando’s Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium.

The 1997-2007 games saw the Florida Classic revived to the point that it overshadowed the drawing power of the Bayou Classic in New Orleans, between Grambling and Southern University in terms of attendance. In 1998, 66,245 packed the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium for the game which determined the 1998 MEAC Championship and postseason invitations. In 1999, the game drew 70,125 fans to Orlando, the sixth-largest football event ever held in the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium. The 2000 MEAC title game, which drew 70,719, for a 31-28 thriller won by the Rattlers. The 2003 game stands as the largest crowd ever in the series - 73,358.

In 2005, the game made its debut on ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, as a part of a commitment to broadcasting HBCU games.

Results

"Bethune-Cookman victories shaded in ██ maroon. Florida A&M victories are shaded in ██ green. "

Other activities

Halftime Show and Battle of the Bands

Marching bands from both universities compete during the Florida Classic halftime show and at various events during the weekend.

In a 2006 article, Orlando Weekly Magazine said, "at most college football games, halftime is for beer runs and bathroom breaks. At the (Florida) Classic, halftime is the reason to go."

Over the years fans have agreed with these types descriptions of the game's halftime show. They also point out that areas under the stadium clear out as fans go to their seats or stand on walkways located at the stadium's end zones because they provide unrestricted views of the football field and the halftime show.

Prior to the MEAC's contract with ESPN to broadcast the game, the two bands enjoyed almost unlimited time to perform their last, longest and undoubtedly best show of the year. In fact, in the 2002 Florida Classic halftime, both bands performed shows that were almost 45 minutes long, nearly tripling the halftime's allotment of only 30 minutes based on NCAA rules.

The rivalry between the two programs is also evident in phrases used by the bands' announcers. Although good friends, Horatio "In Stereo" Walker of Bethune-Cookman's Marching Wildcats and radio jockey Joe Bullard of FAMU's Marching "100," don't express any kind words for the opponent band as they narrate their marching band's respective shows.

The marching bands' appeal is also used to attract fans to other events during the Florida Classic weekend. On Fridays, both bands perform after high school bands during the annual State Farm Battle of the Bands at Amway Arena. Prior to the 2007 match-up, both bands performed annually at a parade at one of the Walt Disney World parks.

External links

* [http://floridaclassic.org/ floridaclassic.org/] - Official web site
* [http://bccathletics.cstv.com/ bccathletics.cstv.com] Bethune-Cookman Wildcats Athletics
* [http://www.famurattlersports.com/ famurattlersports.com] Florida A&M Rattlers Athletics


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Florida Classic (Nationwide Tour event) — The Florida Classic was a golf tournament on the Nationwide Tour from 1999 to 2001. It was played at the Gainesville Country Club in Gainesville, Florida. The purse in 2001 was US$425,000, with $76,500 going to the winner. Winners BUY.COM Florida …   Wikipedia

  • South Florida Classic — The South Florida Classic was a golf tournament on the Nationwide Tour. It ran from 1998 to 1999. It was played at Palm Aire Country Club (Palm Course) in Pompano Beach, Florida. In 1999 the winner earned $40,500. Winners NIKE South Florida… …   Wikipedia

  • Florida Citrus Bowl — Citrus Bowl Florida Citrus Bowl Adresse 1610 W. Church Street Orlando, FL 32805 Ouverture 1936 Propriétaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University — Infobox University name = Florida A M University native name = image size = 200px caption = latin name = motto = Excellence With Caring mottoeng = established = Birth date and age|1887|10|03 closed = type = Public, HBCU affiliation = endowment =… …   Wikipedia

  • Florida vs. Georgia Football Classic — First contested October 15, 1904 52–0, UGA (According to Georgia) November 6, 1915 37–0, UGA (According to Florida) Number of meetings 90 (according t …   Wikipedia

  • Classic country — is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country hits from past decades. This genre generally follows one of two formats: those specializing in hits from the 1920s through the early 1970s, and focus primarily on innovators… …   Wikipedia

  • Classic Motorsports — Editor David S. Wallens Categories automobiles, do it yourself, historic motorsport Frequency 6 per year Circulation 42,000[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Classic Albums Live — is a concert series based in Toronto, Ontario, in which musicians perform a classic rock album in its entirety. The series was founded in 2003 by Craig Martin, a musician who had previously produced a series of boutique cabaret shows as well as… …   Wikipedia

  • Florida's Natural Charity Championship — The Florida s Natural Charity Championship Hosted by Nancy Lopez was a golf tournament for professional female golfers that was part of the LPGA Tour from 1992 through 2006. For most of those years it was known as the Chick fil A Charity… …   Wikipedia

  • Florida-Tennessee rivalry — The Florida Tennessee rivalry, sometimes called the Third Saturday in September, is a sports rivalry between the teams of the University of Florida (the Gators) and the University of Tennessee ( the Volunteers), which exists largely between the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”