Eddie Robinson Classic

The Eddie Robinson Classic was a college football "kickoff" game played in late August from 1997 through 2002 at various sites. The game was named after legendary Grambling coach Eddie Robinson. Until 2002, the NCAA only allowed for teams to play a 12-game regular season schedule if the first game were a licensed Classic such as the Eddie Robinson Classic, the Pigskin Classic, or the Kickoff Classic. In 2002 the NCAA ended the allowance of an extra 12th game, thus effectively ending the Classics.^[1] Kickoff games would later see a revival in 2008, when the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game was organized as a neutral-site game held in Atlanta, Georgia, followed by the Cowboys Classic in Arlington, Texas in 2009.

Game results

Date	Winning team		Losing team		Site
August 28, 1997	No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes	24	Wyoming Cowboys	10	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH
August 29, 1998	No. 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers	56	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	27	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE
August 28, 1999	No. 18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish	48	Kansas Jayhawks	13	Notre Dame Stadium • South Bend, IN
August 26, 2000	No. 8 Kansas State Wildcats	27	Iowa Hawkeyes	7	Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO
August 25, 2001	No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers	26	Virginia Cavaliers	17	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI
August 24, 2002	No. 3 Florida State Seminoles	38	Iowa State Cyclones	31	Arrowhead Stadium • Kansas City, MO

Rankings from AP Poll prior to game. ^[2]

References

1. "Street&Smith's SportsBusinessJournal: 'Kickoff' aims for college football spotlight". Archived from the original on 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
2. "Football - College Poll Archive - Historical College Football, Basketball, and Softball Polls and Rankings".