On Tuesday, January 23, news broke that the 2024 Denny's Orange Blossom Classic (OBC) will feature Alabama State University against North Carolina Central University, adding a new chapter to one of HBCU football's premier classic games. The decision to add two new teams for the first time since the classic's revamping in 2021 brings questions, and who better to answer them than Orange Blossom Classic Executive Director Kendra Bulluck-Major? 

The Orange Blossom Classic first began in 1933 as Florida A&M (FAMU) battled Howard, but the game went on a 43-year hiatus until its return in 2021 as Jackson State and FAMU renewed the series. The Tigers and Rattlers battled for three straight years in the Week 1 game from 2021-2023, bringing new life to the historic event.

However, when news broke in July of 2023 that FAMU would withdraw from the OBC — rejecting a three-year contract offer with payouts of $450,000 in 2024, $500,000 in 2025, and $525,000 in 2026 — it meant that for the first time in the OBC’s history, the Rattlers would not play in the game. Yet, the news came as no surprise to Bulluck-Major and the classic’s planning and scheduling committee. 

"Around mid-March, we started the process of looking for a replacement for [Florida A&M]," said Bulluck-Major. "Typically, schedules are planned out in advance, so we did have to look at potential scheduling conflicts with certain teams."

Bulluck-Major and crew had their work cut out for them to find a replacement for the storied Florida HBCU, but the OBC has grown as a brand since its 21st-century return. Approximately 36,000 fans, 40,000 fans and 25,000, respectively, have packed the Miami-based Hard Rock Stadium in the first three years of the OBC's return.

"Going into year four, our team has done a really good job with the overall branding of the Orange Blossom Classic," she said. "While challenging, we're in a really good position now to brand the Orange Blossom Classic and also bring in additional HBCUs who can benefit from the platform that we're able to provide." 

The schools benefiting in 2024 will be Alabama State and North Carolina Central. But why those two schools in particular?

The first thing that jumps out from 2024’s OBC matchup is that for the first time in the game’s modern history a MEAC school will face a SWAC school, unlike the inter-divisional rivalry that the OBC established in Jackson State and FAMU’s previous matchups. However, the battle between a MEAC and SWAC school was always in the plans of the OBC.

The OBC was originally supposed to return in 2020 when FAMU was still in the MEAC, but the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Rattlers were set to play Division II Albany State in what would've been the OBC's first game since its hiatus, the then-year two of the OBC was going to feature FAMU from the MEAC and Jackson State from the SWAC.

Of course, from there, the timeline blurs as FAMU's decision to leave the MEAC for the SWAC and the negotiations and eventual announcement of the FAMU-JSU 2021 OBC matchup both took place during 2020’s summer months. It all meant a high-stakes, early-season SWAC East matchup that wasn’t the OBC’s original intention.

"It was originally meant to be a MEAC-SWAC matchup. Being that we were so early in the season, a lot of teams are not always ready to go into conference play so soon," said Bulluck-Major. "We had no idea at the time that the OBC was going to ultimately end up determining who the SWAC champion would be. When you look at those things, you want to make it competitive, and you want to make it fun, but you don't want to put so much pressure on the team so early into the season."

After seeing how the high stakes of an in-conference matchup can shape a team's season, the OBC saw FAMU's departure from the classic as a chance to remove pressure from participating teams and as a chance to feature teams from the two FCS HBCU conferences head-to-head. 

“We can allow our fan base to see on both sides what a potential MEAC team could look like, as well as what a SWAC team could look like,” said Bulluck-Major.

When it came down to which team from each conference would be picked to play in the OBC, plenty of factors had to be considered, most notably, attendance. Jackson State has led the FCS in attendance for five straight fall seasons, averaging 30,000-plus fans in 2023, and FAMU finished seventh in attendance in 2023 with an average of over 17,000 fans.

That's where Alabama State comes in. 

The Hornets finished as one of four FCS schools to average over 19,000 fans in 2023, appealing to those selecting teams for the OBC. The 2023 Magic City Classic in Birmingham, Alabama — a game Bulluck-Major got the opportunity to attend — drew 69,210 fans, the largest crowd in the FCS since 2016.

Alabama as a state is also one of two that border Florida, further making Alabama State an attractive option for the OBC. In 2023, the Hornets featured 19 players from Florida on its roster — 11 from the south Florida region — and the Hornets brought in four more Florida-hailing players in its 2023 early signing day class. Alabama State can’t replace the in-state presence that FAMU has, but for Bulluck-Major and the OBC, it's as close an HBCU can get.

"I always jokingly say that, ’If a parent didn't send their kids to FAMU from Florida, they went either to Tuskegee or Alabama State.’”

She added, “You want a team that travels well, you want to see winning, and you want to see a team that has a fan base where you're located. We take all of those things into consideration when making those decisions.”

Bulluck-Major's point on winning is where North Carolina Central comes in with the most value.

2024 will mark the first time in the OBC's history that a program that has won a Celebration Bowl will play in the classic. North Carolina Central won the 2022 Celebration Bowl to stand as the top FCS HBCU program, giving the OBC all of the incentive to grab the Eagles as one of the game's participants.

“We had North Carolina Central signed fairly early at the top of the year last year because they were coming off of their win against Jackson State. When the team is winning their fans get excited and they follow that team,” said Bulluck-Major. “With us having our relationship with ESPN, you look at what is appealing from a television standpoint. And the winning team is always appealing.”

While North Carolina Central will be two years removed from its Celebration Bowl win in 2024's OBC, the Eagles remained one of the top teams in HBCU football last year, earning an at-large selection to the FCS playoffs.

Both North Carolina Central and Alabama State are expected to remain near the top of their conferences and in contention for a Celebration Bowl berth throughout the 2024 season. The two successful programs also have two successful coaches that appealed to the OBC in replacing the personalities of Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders and T.C. Taylor from Jackson State and Willie Simmons from FAMU.

Alabama State's Eddie Robinson Jr. is the second-longest tenured coach in the SWAC and famously — or infamously, depending on who you root for — started the viral conversation and debate about "Who is SWAC?" And North Carolina Central's Trei Oliver is the only current HBCU coach with a Celebration Bowl title and is always exciting to hear from in the media.

“If you’re going to have to replace a Coach Prime and a Coach Simmons, we hit the nail on the head with our replacements,” said Bulluck-Major. “They'll both bring a lot of swag, a lot of competitiveness, and a lot of great commentary for us with their interview style and with their style of play.”

The personalities of the coaches only added to the intrigue of the OBC selecting Alabama State and North Carolina Central as its teams in 2024. Fans of the OBC will get a matchup of MEAC and SWAC contenders that aren't too far away regionally from the Miami-based game.

So, could fans expect to see the Hornets and Eagles matchup in the future or even future MEAC vs. SWAC contests in the Orange Blossom Classic?

“We’re still undecided,” said Bulluck-Major. “It comes down to a lot of the other things that I mentioned.”

Nonetheless, 2024's contest between Alabama State and North Carolina Central should carry intrigue throughout the offseason until the opening kickoff on Sunday, September 1, 2024.