On September 6, 2026, Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens will host the Denny's Orange Blossom Classic. The event pits South Carolina State against Florida A&M, featuring two head coaches who both enter the game as reigning national champions.
The collision of Chennis Berry and Quinn Gray Sr.
The 2026 matchup is defined by a rare statistical anomaly: both sidelines are led by coaches who recently topped the national rankings. According to the report, South Carolina State head coach Chennis Berry finished No. 1 in the 2025 BOXTOROW Division I coaches and media polls. This achievement marks the second Division I HBCU national championship for the Bulldogs in a five-season span.
Opposing him is Florida A&M first-year head coach Quinn Gray Sr., who arrives in Miami Gardens with his own championship pedigree . Gray Sr. secured the Division II title in the same BOXTOROW poll series while leading Albany State. This pairing creates a high-pressure environment where two distinct levels of HBCU success—Division I and Division II—converge on a single field.
From 1933 to the 2021 revival under Kendra Bulluck-Major
The Orange Blossom Classic is not a new invention but a resurrected legacy that originally ran from 1933 to 1978. The inaugural 1933 contest saw Florida A&M secure a 9-6 victory over Howard, establishing the game as a premier postseason showcase for the university. For decades, the event remained a memory until executive director Kendra Bulluck-Major began a grueling, ten-year effort to bring the tradition back to South Florida.
As the report notes,the path to revival was fraught with delays, including administrative shifts at Florida A&M and the personal challenge of balancing the project with family life. The formal return was announced in March 2019 at the Jazz in the Gardens festival, eventually leading to the 2021 restart. This revival reflects a broader trend of HBCUs reclaiming historic regional classics to strengthen alumni ties and provide students with high-visibility platforms.
An 87-0 blowout and the road to Miami Gardens
Both programs entered the 2026 season with dominant Week 0 performances that set a volatile tone for the upcoming classic. South Carolina State delivered a school-record 87-0 victory over Savannah State,a particularly poignant win given that Savannah State is the alma mater of coach Chennis Berry.
Florida A&M also opened their season with a win, defeating Albany State 20-7 in Tallahassee. This victory was equally personal for Quinn Gray Sr., as Albany State was the program he led to a 12-2 record and a SIAC championship the previous season. The parallel trajectories of Berry and Gray Sr.—both rising from Division II programs to lead major HBCU teams—add a layer of professional rivalry to the game.
The NCAA postseason ban and the Rattler recovery
Despite the early-season victory, Florida A&M is navigating a precarious administrative landscape. The university is currently under an NCAA postseason ban resulting from Academic Progress Rate penalties announced in April. This restriction creates a strange paradox where the team must maintain high performance on the field while being barred from the ultimate rewards of a successful season.
While Kendra Bulluck-Major has praised the resilience of "Rattler Nation," the ban leaves several critical questions unanswered. It remains unnclear how these APR penalties will impact long-term recruiting efforts or if the university has a concrete timeline for restoring its academic standing to satisfy NCAA requirements. The report focuses on the support for Quinn Gray Sr., but the systemic cause of the ban remains a shadow over the program's revival.
Oliver "Buddy" Pough's 1970s legacy
The 2026 game also serves as a full-circle moment for South Carolina State's administration. Athletic director Oliver "Buddy" Pough played in an original iteration of the Orange Blossom Classic during the 1970s. In a detail highlighted by Bulluck-Major, Florida A&M won that specific contest, providing a historical grudge for Pough to share with his current coaching staff.
This personal connection underscores why the event is more than a scheduled game;it is a bridge between the golden era of HBCU football and the modern era. By linking the 1970s experience of Pough to the 2026 ambitions of Berry and Gray Sr., the Orange Blossom Classic cements its role as a cultural touchstone for the HBCU community in Florida.
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