Program Prestige · Alabama StateThe 1991 Heritage Bowl
Alabama State closes an 11-0-1 season by beating North Carolina A&T 36-13 in the Heritage Bowl to claim the Black College National Championship under Houston Markham.
Alabama State
2-1SWAC · Hornet Stadium · 26,500 · 18,678 avg in 2026
The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The marketno line yetvs Mississippi Valley State · our model 92% Alabama State · a number, not a pick
LastL 17–34 at Troy · Sat Sep 12 · Jamarie Hostzclaw 80 rush yds, 1 TD, 10 rec yds
Nextvs Mississippi Valley State · Sat Sep 26 · 6 pm ET · Hornet Stadium · series 15-2, won the last 4 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
Program Prestige · Alabama State
Power Program
Program outlook
Alabama State won a Black College National Championship in 1991 — and alumnus Eddie Robinson Jr.'s steady four-year build just produced the program's first 10-win season since 2004.
Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs
Alabama State football dates to 1901 and joined the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 1982 after decades in the SIAC (with conference titles in 1935, 1939, 1965, and 1966). The program's high-water mark came in 1991, when fifth-year coach Houston Markham led the Hornets to an 11-0-1 record, a SWAC championship, and a Black College National Championship, sealed by a 36-13 win over North Carolina A&T in the Heritage Bowl. Markham's 68 wins remain the most by any Alabama State coach, and Alabama State added a second SWAC title in 2004.
After more than three decades without matching that level of sustained contention, Alabama State hired alumnus Eddie Robinson Jr. as head coach on November 26, 2021. Robinson built the program in steady increments — 6-5 in 2022, 7-4 in 2023, 7-5 in 2024 — before a breakthrough 10-2 (7-1 SWAC) season in 2025 delivered the program's first 10-win season since 2004 and a share of the SWAC East Division title. Entering his fifth season in 2026 with a 30-16 overall record, Robinson has Alabama State picked to win the SWAC East outright at 2026 Media Day, which would be the program's first trip to the SWAC Championship Game since 2010.
Alabama State's identity also runs through two of HBCU football's oldest rivalry weekends: the Magic City Classic against in-state rival Alabama A&M (since 1924, a near-even series Alabama A&M leads 44-43-3 through 2025) and the Turkey Day Classic against Tuskegee (also since 1924, billed as the first Black college football classic). Both games anchor the program's national HBCU profile alongside the Mighty Marching Hornets, whose 2019 Rose Parade appearance and viral 2012 Magic City Classic halftime show gave Alabama State a cultural reach beyond its win-loss record.
Program identity
Alabama State is a program with a proven ceiling — the 1991 Black College National Championship — that spent decades short of it and is now being rebuilt one incremental winning season at a time under an alumnus head coach rather than through a single splash hire.
All-time record · Alabama State
Alabama State has won 53% of its games since 1977 — 61% at home, 40% on the road.
109-98 all-time · 23 seasons · 1977–2026
Home
37-24
Away
31-46
Neutral
41-28
2 g
1970s
38%
2000s
54%
2010s
62%
2020s
Program memory
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2019
Tytus Howard goes in Round 1
Tytus Howard becomes the first Alabama State player ever selected in the first round of an NFL draft, taken 23rd overall by the Houston Texans.
The 2025 breakthrough season
Eddie Robinson Jr.'s Hornets go 10-2 (7-1 SWAC), the program's first 10-win season since 2004, and share the SWAC East Division title.
Moment of the season — so far · Alabama State · 2026
Moment of the season — so far · Alabama State · 2026Won 30-17 vs Southern
Week 1 of 2026. Won as a 19.5-point underdog — the result the market didn't see coming.
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Conference
SWAC standing · 2026
1st in the SWAC
Alabama State sits at the top of the SWAC at 1-0. Everyone else is chasing.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama State | 1-0 |
| 2 | Alcorn State | 1-0 |
| 3 | Prairie View A&M | 1-0 |
| – | Alabama A&M | 0-0 |
| – | Bethune-Cookman | 0-0 |
| – | Florida A&M | 0-0 |
| – | Grambling | 0-0 |
| – | Jackson State | 0-0 |
| – | Mississippi Valley State | 0-0 |
| 10 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 0-1 |
| 11 | Southern | 0-1 |
| 12 | Texas Southern | 0-1 |
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
The Magic City Classic
since 1924
more
One of the oldest and most competitive rivalries in HBCU football. First played in 1924 (Alabama State won 30-0); an annual fixture at Legion Field since 1940 and uninterrupted since 1945. Through the 90th meeting on October 25, 2025 (a 56-13 Alabama State win, its fourth straight), Alabama A&M leads the all-time series 44-43-3. Played for the Magic City Classic Trophy in front of crowds that regularly top 60,000.
The Turkey Day Classic
since 1924
more
Billed as the first Black college football classic, first played November 15, 1924 (a 28-7 Tuskegee win). Originally staged at Montgomery's Cramton Bowl, it moved to ASU Stadium in 2012, went on hiatus 2013-2016, and resumed in 2017 with Tuskegee returning as the permanent Thanksgiving opponent in 2021. Alabama State won the 100th Classic in 2024 (34-6) and the 101st in 2025 (58-21).
Cultural identity
Reddit blowups
r/cfb moments
233
[Postgame Thread] Alabama State Defeats Jackson State 35-28
189
[Postgame Thread] UAB Defeats Alabama State 24-19
145
[Postgame Thread] UAB Defeats Alabama State 52-42
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