Gold Bowl
StadiumCity Stadium
LocationRichmond, Virginia
United States
Operated1976-1980
Conference tie-insMEAC, CIAA
City Stadium, Richmond

The Gold Bowl was an American college football bowl game between teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association (CIAA), two athletic conferences traditionally consisting of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The game was played on a Saturday in early December from 1976 through 1980 at City Stadium in Richmond, Virginia. Reflecting its origins in the bicentennial year, the first edition of the game was called the Bicentennial Bowl.

History

On August 29, 1976, officials of the MEAC and CIAA announced that their champions would meet in a postseason game called the Bicentennial Bowl, to be held at Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the first Saturday of December.[1] Plans changed that October when Black Super Conference, a Houston-based television network, offered to televise the inaugural game, but on the second Saturday of December rather than the first. Memorial Stadium was not available on that day, prompting bowl organizers to move the game to City Stadium in Richmond.[2] In September 1977 the two conferences announced that the game would remain in Richmond, rebranded as the Gold Bowl, and move to the first Saturday in December.[3] Bowl organizers made the game the centerpiece of a festive weekend including a Gold Bowl parade and, as of 1978, a Friday-night basketball doubleheader featuring four HBCU teams.[4]

South Carolina State of the MEAC was recognized as Black college football national champion after winning the 1976 game,[5] and as co-champion after winning the 1977 game.[6]

The success of the MEAC vs. the CIAA ultimately caused the Gold Bowl to be discontinued. The MEAC had been founded in 1970 with a core membership of six schools that seceded from the CIAA, with the ultimate goal of competing at the highest level of the NCAA. In June 1978 the MEAC achieved reclassification from Division II to Division I and began to play in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (then known as Division I-AA) that fall. Meanwhile, the CIAA remained in Division II, and the competitive gap between the two conferences soon became apparent. MEAC teams won four of the five games, and trounced their CIAA opponents in the 1979 and 1980 Gold Bowls. In April 1981, CIAA officials announced that the game was being discontinued, and that in future years the conference's signature football event would be a neutral-site conference championship matching the first-place teams of its two divisions.[7]

The Gold Bowl remains unique as the only postseason football contest that has matched teams from different divisions within the NCAA.

Aftermath

The MEAC eventually joined the other HBCU conference at the Division I-AA/FCS level, the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), in sponsoring the Heritage Bowl (1991–99) and the Celebration Bowl (2015–present).[8] The CIAA eventually joined the other HBCU Division II conference, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), in sponsoring the Pioneer Bowl (1997-2012) and the Florida Beach Bowl (2023–present).[9]

The parade and other social activities developed for the Gold Bowl survived as part of the in-season Gold Bowl Classic, created in July 1981 and first contested that October, between Richmond's own Virginia Union and Virginia State from nearby Petersburg.[10] The Gold Bowl Classic survived into the 21st century as an annual home game for Virginia Union, held at Hovey Field, its on-campus stadium, until 2007. The classic claimed the MEAC-CIAA bowls as part of its history (except for the 1976 Bicentennial Bowl), for example, branding the 2007 game as the 31st Annual Gold Bowl Classic.[11]

Game results

Date played Winning team Losing team notes
December 11, 1976South Carolina State (MEAC)26Norfolk State (CIAA)10[12]
December 3, 1977South Carolina State (MEAC)10Winston-Salem State (CIAA)7[13]
December 2, 1978Virginia Union (CIAA)21North Carolina A&T (MEAC)6[14]
December 1, 1979South Carolina State (MEAC)39Norfolk State (CIAA)7[15]
December 6, 1980North Carolina A&T (MEAC)37North Carolina Central (CIAA)0[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Bicentennial Bowl Planned Here". The Charlotte News. 30 August 1976. Retrieved 21 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "CIAA, MEAC Champions To Meet in City Stadium". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 20 October 1976. Retrieved 21 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "All Smiles". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 8 September 1977. Retrieved 21 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Va. State 87, S.C. State 70". Danville Register and Bee. 2 December 1978. Retrieved 27 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Frank Bannister (16 December 1976). "Top 20 Black Colleges". Jet (p. 50).
  6. ↑ Frank Bannister (22 December 1977). "Top 20 Black Colleges". Jet (p. 51).
  7. ↑ "Gold Bowl Dropped; Championship Set". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 5 April 1981. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Hunt, Donald (31 March 2015). "HBCU greats laud the Celebration Bowl". ESPN. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  9. ↑ Scouten, Ted (14 September 2023). "New Florida Beach Bowl game will feature 2 HBCUs during post-season play in Fort Lauderdale". CBS Sports. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "Revamping Set For Gold Bowl". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 25 July 1981. Retrieved 27 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Virginia Union 27, Bowie State 14". Baltimore Sun. 21 October 2007. Retrieved 29 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Norfolk State Beaten In Bicentennial Bowl". The Roanoke Times. 12 December 1976. Retrieved 21 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Defense Key As Bulldogs Repel Rams". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 4 December 1977. Retrieved 21 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Union Defense Triggers Gold Bowl Win". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 3 December 1978. Retrieved 21 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Norfolk State Bows 39-7 to South Carolina State". Daily Press (Virginia). 2 December 1979. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Gold Bowl Easily Won By NC A&T". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 7 December 1980. Retrieved 21 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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