The inaugural Florida Beach Bowl matchup between HBCU NCAA Division II teams has been announced, and it features Johnson C. Smith University and Fort Valley State.
The announcement on the matchup was released on Monday, just two months after the game itself was announced. Both NCAA Division II HBCU conferences, the SIAC and CIAA, elected a team to send to the game.
The Florida Beach Bowl will be played in Fort Lauderdale, FL December 13th at the DRV PNK Stadium at 7:30 PM.
Both JCSU and Fort Valley State finished the regular season 7-3. That was a five-game improvement for JCSU and a one-game setback for FVSU.
Maurice Flowers, head coach at Johnson C. Smith, was previously the head coach at Fort Valley State – and recruited some of the players on the current squad. Flowers left FVSU after two seasons to take over as head coach at his alma mater. Shawn Gibbs, a long-time assistant under Rod Broadway and Sam Washington, was hired in his place in spring 2022. Gibbs has led the program to a 15-5 record in his two seasons at the helm.