BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — The upcoming Magic City Classic featuring Alabama State and Alabama A&M has been picked up for national television.
The game scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 26 at Legion Field will kick off at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU, and will feature two of the top teams in the league standings heading into a bye week for both teams.
When the schedule was first announced in June, a channel had not been selected for the game.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is considered one of the premier HBCU conferences in the country and currently ranks among the elite in the nation in terms of HBCU alumni playing with professional sports teams.
The bitter rivals that are Alabama State and Alabama A&M tangle every year at "The Old Gray Lady" and the game is regarded as the largest HBCU classic in the country. With a seating capacity of 71,000 at Legion Field and two teams that have played each other 85 times dating back at least to 1924, it is not hard to see why.
Actor Omari Hardwick will serve as this year's game ambassador.
Alabama A&M recently renegotiated a contract with the City of Birmingham to keep the Magic City Classic at Legion Field for the next four years. AAMU receives a $500,000 annual stipend for their participation in the game.
This will be the 83rd matchup between the two schools.
