A key HBCU football matchup between MEAC and SWAC Contenders will have a large platform on ESPN. SWAC East contender Alabama State and North Carolina Central are set to take on each other in the Denny’s Orange Blossom Classic on Sept. 1 at 3 PM.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN. This marks the second year in a row the game has been televised on the main network.
The Orange Blossom Classic made its return in 2021 with a matchup of Florida A&M against Jackson State. That series lasted for three years, with JSU winning the first two matchups before Florida A&M took the third. The winner of that game ended up being the SWAC champion in each of the three seasons.
This year’s matchup is a departure from the intra-SWAC East game it has been of late.
North Carolina Central is coming off a 9-3 season in which it spent much of the year ranked in the FCS top 25 and received an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs despite not winning the MEAC title. Alabama State was 6-5 last season – its second under head coach Eddie Robinson Jr.
Both teams will come into the game with new quarterbacks. Walker Harris is a familiar face for North Carolina Central fans, having started several games over the last three seasons as a backup to record-setting quarterback Davius Richard. He will head into the season looking to keep the offense in the race for the MEAC title and get back to the Celebration Bowl this season.
Alabama State, meanwhile, will hand the reins of its offense over to Andrew Body. Body is a talented dual-threat quarterback who gave SWAC defenses fits for several seasons at Texas Southern before hitting the transfer portal.
The two new starting quarterbacks will get a chance to battle it out in a major HBCU classic on Sept. 1.