The original "Military Classic of the South" was a football game played on Thanksgiving Day between Virginia Tech (VPI) and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) beginning in 1913 and lasting until 1985.[2][3] Unfortunately, as Virginia Tech continued to expand its student body, the game quickly became unmatched and VMI left the series in 1985.
Sport | Football |
---|---|
First meeting | October 16, 1920 VMI, 35–0 |
Latest meeting | October 19, 2024 The Citadel, 13–10 |
Next meeting | 2025 at Charleston, SC |
Trophy | Silver Shako |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 80[1] |
All-time series | The Citadel leads, 45–33–2 |
Trophy series | The Citadel leads, 31–13–1 |
Largest victory | The Citadel, 50–0 (1992) |
Longest win streak | The Citadel, 12 (2003–2018) |
Current win streak | The Citadel, 1 (2024–present) |
Today, the current Military Classic of the South is an American college football rivalry game played between the civilian students and cadet students from The Citadel and the cadets from Virginia Military Institute.[4] The first game between VMI and The Citadel was in 1920. The game has been played nearly continuously since World War II; since then, only five seasons have seen the game not played. Currently, The Citadel is expanding its student body to become a larger comprehensive college and bringing in transfer graduate student athletes, while VMI remains all-military. Thus, the future of this series may be uncertain.[5]
Current History
editVMI and The Citadel first played each other in 1920. The trophy that is currently awarded, the Silver Shako, was introduced in 1976.[6][7]
The game has been played nearly continuously since World War II, with no matchup in 1956, 2004, and 2008–2010. The Citadel had won the past twelve meetings before VMI's victory in 2019. The Citadel leads the series 45–33–2. At one point in 1967, the Keydets led the series 18–8–1. The Military Classic is the thirteenth oldest still-played rivalry in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the NCAA. Both teams were members of the Southern Conference (SoCon) from 1936 until 2003, when VMI left for the Big South Conference and were reunited in the SoCon when VMI returned in 2014.[8][9]
Game results
editThe Citadel victories | VMI victories | Tie games |
|
Other varsity sports
editSport | Last Matchup | All-Time Series | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Location | Winner | Score | Attendance | Leader | Record | |
Baseball | April 15, 2022 | Gray–Minor Stadium • Lexington, Virginia | VMI | 5–2 | 1,814 | The Citadel | 85–39[10][11] |
April 16, 2022 | Gray–Minor Stadium • Lexington, Virginia | VMI | 3–2 | 132 | |||
April 17, 2022 | Gray–Minor Stadium • Lexington, Virginia | The Citadel | 22–5(7) | 154 | |||
Basketball | January 15, 2022 | McAlister Field House • Charleston, SC | VMI | 90–85 | 1,256 | The Citadel | 60–58[12][13] |
February 12, 2022 | Cameron Hall • Lexington, VA | The Citadel | 83–79 | 3,745 | |||
Women's Soccer | October 23, 2022 | WLI Field • Charleston, SC | The Citadel | 5–1 | 203 | The Citadel | 10–7[14][15] |
October 25, 2022[a] | WLI Field • Charleston, SC | The Citadel | 3–0 | 176 | |||
Wrestling | February 20, 2022 | McAlister Field House • Charleston, SC | The Citadel | 32–5 | N/A | VMI | 43–25[16][17] |
- ^ SoCon Tournament
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Football History vs the Citadel".
- ^ "Back in the day Tech VMI was the game".
- ^ "A History of the Corps of Cadets".
- ^ "SoCon Football Week 10: A Historical Sketch of the 'Battle For The Silver Shako'". Medium.com. November 3, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
- ^ Hartsell, Jeff. "VMI and The Citadel: The same, but different".
- ^ Kara, Klein. "Virginia Military Institute (VMI) vs The Citadel football – The Citadel – Charleston, SC". www.citadel.edu.
- ^ "Silver Shako".
- ^ "CSTV Adds VMI-Citadel "Military Classic of the South" To Fall Football Line-Up". Big South Conference. July 11, 2007. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ^ "VMI, Citadel play their 'Classic'". USA Today. November 15, 2002. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
- ^ 2020 Baseball Record Book (PDF). The Citadel Bulldogs. p. 147. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ 2020 Baseball Record Book (PDF). VMI Keydets. p. 4. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ 2019–20 Basketball Record Book (PDF). The Citadel Bulldogs. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ "2020–21 Basketball Game Notes: At Citadel" (PDF). VMI Keydets. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ 2020 Women's Soccer Record Book (PDF). The Citadel Bulldogs. p. 65. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ VMI Women's Soccer Record Book (PDF). VMI Keydets. p. 7. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ 2020 Wrestling Record Book (PDF). The Citadel Bulldogs. p. 2. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ 2019–20 Wrestling Record Book (PDF). VMI Keydets. p. 8–9. Retrieved February 26, 2021.