HBCU football's classics weekend delivered. From Saturday, September 5 into Sunday, September 6, Labor Day weekend packed the schedule with marquee classics, blowout home openers and a signature power-conference test — and the preseason favorites largely held serve.
Classics Weekend Headliners
The Orange Blossom Classic went to South Carolina State, with the defending Black College National Champions handling Florida A&M 31-13 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. In the Labor Day Classic, defending SWAC champion Prairie View A&M overwhelmed Texas Southern 52-14 to open conference play in style. Jackson State turned its HOPE Labor Day Classic home opener into a rout, blasting Edward Waters 66-14 at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Across the SWAC, Grambling State beat Central State 48-26, Southern rolled past Kentucky State 34-15, and Alabama State shut out Lane 34-0. Alabama A&M bounced back from its Challenge Kickoff loss to top Miles 38-23. The one stumble among the headliners belonged to Howard: a week after winning the Challenge Kickoff, the Bison dropped a 28-21 road decision at Richmond.
The weekend also featured tough guarantee games against FBS competition — Georgia handled Tennessee State 63-3, Maryland shut out Hampton 62-0, Arizona State beat Morgan State 70-7, and Southern Miss downed Alcorn State 49-3 — the kind of paydays that fund HBCU athletic departments even when the scoreboard is lopsided.
Howard Won the Challenge Kickoff to Open the Year
The headliner was the Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge, and Howard delivered, edging Alabama A&M 31-24 in Atlanta on ABC. Quarterback Ja'Shawn Scroggins threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns — including a 51-yard strike to Se'Quan Osborne in the final minutes — to hand new head coach Ted White a winning debut before an audience estimated at 1.2 million viewers.
That August 29 opener kicked off a fast-growing HBCU football calendar that only ramped up through the classics-heavy Labor Day weekend.
South Carolina State Sets the MEAC Standard
South Carolina State enters 2026 as the team everyone is chasing. The Bulldogs are the defending MEAC champions and reigning Black College Football National Champions, and they were tabbed the MEAC preseason favorite, collecting five of nine first-place votes. NC Central, Delaware State, Morgan State, Norfolk State and Howard fill out the projected order behind them.
Alabama State and Prairie View Anchor the SWAC
In the SWAC East, Alabama State is the clear favorite, pulling 16 first-place votes with quarterback Andrew Body as the front-runner for SWAC Offensive Player of the Year. Jackson State (seven first-place votes) sits right behind. In the SWAC West, defending conference champion Prairie View A&M leads the way with 19 first-place votes under coach Tremaine Jackson, with Grambling and Alcorn State in pursuit.
A Star-Studded Coaching Class
Perhaps the biggest storyline of the offseason is who is now roaming HBCU sidelines. Michael Vick takes over at Norfolk State, DeSean Jackson leads Delaware State, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk steps in at Southern. Their arrival — alongside the continued national visibility of the classification — has drawn unprecedented attention to programs that have long deserved the spotlight.
A New Way to Rank Them All
Adding to the intrigue, 2026 introduces the Black College Football Poll, a unified ranking spanning the SWAC, MEAC, CIAA and SIAC. For the first time, fans have a single national barometer to compare the best HBCU programs across every level, and it should fuel the debate all season long.
*Reported by the Urban City Podcast Sports newsroom — urbancitypodcastsports.com. Scores, schedules and coaching moves verified as of September 6, 2026.*