The Jackson State Tigers and the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats will play in the 2019 MEAC/SWAC Challenge, it was announced on Monday.
An official date will be determined later, but the game will be played on Labor Day weekend at Georgia State Stadium in Atlanta. The kickoff time is also to be determined, and the game will be televised and/or streamed by the ESPN platform.
Jackson State and Bethune-Cookman have met six times on the gridiron. In their most recent meeting back in 1989, Jackson State defeated Bethune-Cookman 27-7 to extend their lead in the overall series to 4-2.
The MEAC/SWAC Challenge, owned by ESPN Events, is an annual historically black college football game between the Mid-Eastern Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The contest began in 2005 and has been played 14 times.
Bethune-Cookman, located in Daytona Beach, Florida, has played in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge three times. The Wildcats defeated Prairie View A&M 63-14 in 2011 and beat Alabama State 38-28 in 2012. Their 2016 contest against Alcorn State was canceled just before halftime due to lightning.
In their first and only appearance in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, Jackson State fell to Hampton 17-13 in 2008.
Bethune-Cookman wrapped up the their 2018 schedule with a 33-19 victory of Florida A&M, which gave the Wildcats a 7-5 record (5-2 MEAC). Jackson State fell to Alcorn State 24-3 in their final game of the season and finished 5-5 overall and 4-3 in SWAC play.
Football Schedules