Division II HBCU bowl game will not be played this season

The Florida Beach Bowl, a postseason college football game featuring teams from two Historically Black College and University (HBCU) conferences, will not take place in 2024, sources confirmed. The bowl, trying to build on the success of its first game, faced financing problems.

The post-season competition launched last year matched teams from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). Both teams selected for the competition had to have a minimum of six wins, the minimum number needed to qualify, and were allowed to play a maximum of eleven games in the regular season.

The first Florida Beach Bowl was held on December 13, 2023 at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The game was streamed on the HBCU Plus platform, which attracted more than 720,000 viewers. The match featured Fort Valley State (FVSU) of the SIAC and Johnson C. Smith (JCSU) of the CIAA, with FVSU winning 23-10.

Several teams in the SIAC, including Miles College (7-2), Fort Valley State (6-3) and Clark Atlanta (6-2-1), were in contention for this year’s match, while the CIAA put up a tight battle. between Johnson C. Smith (8-1) and Virginia Union (7-2) for first place

The cancellation of the 2024 Florida Beach Bowl is a blow to fans who hoped the game could become a long-term successor to the Pioneer Bowl, which for years was the premier postseason game for HBCU Division II teams. The Pioneer Bowl, founded in 1997, gave HBCU teams a rare opportunity for a postseason appearance and helped increase the visibility of players often overlooked by college football’s larger media landscape.

JCSU had a standout season in 2023, finishing 7-3, the best record for the school since 2006. That year, JCSU also represented the CIAA in the Pioneer Bowl, but lost 17-7 to Tuskegee University. FVSU also finished the season with a 7-3 record, rebounding from a narrow 37-31 loss to Tuskegee in the 2023 Red Tails Classic to win five straight games, four of them by double-digit margins.

In last year’s competition FVSU quarterback Kelvin Durham was named MVP after throwing for 167 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with Dejuan Bell for a 42-yard pass on the game’s opening drive, then found Brandon Marshall for a 2-yard touchdown to give FVSU a 7–0 lead.

Marshall added a second touchdown on a 9-yard reception before halftime, making the score 16-0. Durham later hit Jaren Lawson for an 84-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 23-3.

JCSU scored again in the third quarter, but FVSU’s defense held firm, limiting the Golden Bulls to 150 yards. Marshall finished with 65 rushing yards and Bell had 51 receiving yards. FVSU finished with 251 total yards. Head coach Shawn Gibbs improved to 16-5 in his second season with the program.

The Pioneer Bowl, the first bowl game featuring SIAC and CIAA teams, was traditionally played in the South, often in Atlanta, Georgia. The game was a celebration of HBCU football and its student-athletes. However, financial and logistical problems led to the cancellation of the competition after 2012, with the SIAC winning nine of the fourteen matchups and the CIAA winning five. In the first-ever Pioneer Bowl in 1997, Kentucky State defeated Livingstone College 30-26 at Herndon Stadium in Atlanta.

With both the Florida Beach Bowl and Pioneer Bowl on hiatus, questions arise about the future of HBCU Division II football. The lack of televised postseason games and national exposure could further hinder the ability of HBCU teams to secure sponsorship and funding for future games.