The reigning CIAA champion Virginia Union Panthers are headed back to Canton, Ohio, for the second time in three years to play in the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic.
The game will be played on August 31, 2025, and will air on NFL Network.
This time the Panthers will clash with the reigning SIAC champion Miles Golden Bears. This will be the first time the reigning CIAA champion has faced the reigning SIAC champion in the regular season since 2013 (Winston-Salem State beat Tuskegee in the 2013 Cleveland Classic).
Virginia Union played in the 2022 edition of the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic against Morehouse, winning 45-13 (the most points scored in the Classic).
Last season, the Panthers finished with a 10-4 overall record, claiming their second straight CIAA championship with a 17-13 win over Virginia State.
In the Division II Playoffs, Virginia Union advanced to the Regional Final for the first time in school history with wins over Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne.
The 2024 season was also historic for Miles, who finished the year with a 10-3 overall record and claimed their first SIAC championship since 2019 with a 53-25 win over Clark Atlanta.
They went on to the Division II Playoffs, beating Carson-Newman 14-13 in the opening round marking the team’s first-ever playoff win.
Virginia Union and Miles’ respective opening-round playoff wins were the first time two HBCUs have advanced past the first round in the same year.
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