The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) Golden Lions and Alcorn State University Braves will play in the 2025 Southern Heritage Classic, UAPB has announced.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Alcorn State, both members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), will meet at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tenn., on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. The game was previously slated to be a home contest for UAPB at Simmons Bank Stadium in Pine Bluff, Ark.
The Southern Heritage Classic is an annual historically black college football contest. The matchup used to feature the Tennessee State Tigers and Jackson State Tigers before both schools pulled out of the contest.
Tennessee State appeared in the Southern Heritage Classic 33 times, with Jackson State just behind with 29 appearances. Mississippi Valley State and Grambling State have also made one appearance each.
In the 2023 and 2024 contests, Arkansas-Pine Bluff squared off with Tennessee State, losing both contests 24-14 and 41-28, respectively.
Alcorn State takes the place of Tennessee State in the annual Southern Heritage Classic, who opted out and scheduled a new Legacy Series against Alabama A&M.
“We are thrilled to welcome Alcorn State to Memphis this September to take on UAPB,” said Southern Heritage Classic founder Fred Jones Jr. “For the first time in our history, there is added significance to this year’s event, as this will be a conference game for both teams.”
Arkansas-Pine Bluff has not yet announced its complete schedule for the 2025 season. The Golden Lions are scheduled to open on the road against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday, Aug. 30.
Alcorn State revealed its schedule for this fall on January 28. The Braves are slated to open their campaign on Thursday, Aug. 28 on the road against the Northwestern State Demons.
Football Schedules
A-PB has a mere 10 games on their schedule this year. Powerful!
I would like to see Jackson State-Texas Southern play Southern Heritage Classic in future.