The 2026 Orange Blossom Classic renews a rivalry more than 50 years in the making
Buddy Pough still recalls his first Orange Blossom Classic.
The then-junior at South Carolina State University played in the 1973 iteration of the game, losing 23-10 to the Florida A&M. Other than the loss, something that stings to this day, he had nothing but fond memories of the trip to South Florida, which featured what he recalled as his team’s first airplane trip and a stay at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach.
“For an ‘ole country boy out of the sticks of Orangeburg County, South Carolina,” said Pough, now the interim athletic director for SCSU, “it was the opportunity for us to have an experience that you never could have fathomed.”
More than half a century later, SCSU will have a chance for revenge Sept. 6 at Hard Rock Stadium against FAMU for the 2026 Orange Blossom Classic. Representatives from both institutions met Wednesday morning in Miami Gardens to drum up support before game tickets go on sale Friday. In a collegiate landscape often shaped by NIL and transfer portal, the OBC presents a unique opportunity to showcase HBCU culture on a national stage. Schools like FAMU and SCSU can’t pay what a University of South Carolina or Florida can yet the two institutions offer something that a Group of 5can’t: access to a rich historical tradition that has produced changemakers from Martin Luther King Jr. to Thurgood Marshall to Oprah Winfrey.
“This game is bigger than football,” SCSU coach Chennis Berry said with the energy of fiery preacher delivering a sermon. “It’s culture. It’s legacy. It’s an opportunity to showcase pride for both institutions.”
With both coaches having already matched up at previous schools, the trash talk started early.
“I promise you that Bulldog Nation will be here in full effect,” said SCSU coach Chennis Berry who holds a 2-0 record over FAMU coach Quinn Gray Sr. from their days at Benedict College and Albany State, respectively.
“As he said Bulldog nation gone show up,” Gray retorted, “but Rattler nation already here.”
This year’s matchup, however, has an extra layer of excitement as it features the reigning HBCU national champions in the Bulldogs. While their title defense will begin the week prior against Savannah State, the OBC’s stage serves a recruiting trip — and not just for football.
“We get a chance to recruit for the university,” Berry said, encouraging prospective college students to attend so that “you can be able to see yourself matriculating through South Carolina State University or Florida A&M.”
Added Berry: “It’s bigger than just a football piece or the student-athlete piece. It really blesses and helps the whole entire community.”
On the other sideline, there’s FAMU, a school looking to regain its status as one of preeminent programs in HBCU football under first-year coach Gray. A matchup against a school of SCSU’s caliber can serve as a measuring stick for 2026 and beyond but, as evinced by Pough, also attaches each individual player to something bigger.
“The legacy of this game is always important,” Gray said, explaining that his team will know “the people that played in this game and have gone on to the NFL” like Robert Porcher and Earl Holmes but will also “understand the focus needed to play against a formidable opponent like South Carolina State.”
Although the participating schools have changed through the years, one thing has remained: the HBCU pride. That has become the calling card for the OBC. While the Rattlers and Bulldogs will surely dominate ticket sales, the event, like many HBCU football games, extend far past what happens between the lines.
“When we come down, they should come represent HBCUs not only just FAMU and South Carolina State but because we’re one HBCU community,” Gray said.
