Bethune-Cookman driven to top surging rival FAMU
Bethune-Cookman coach Terry Sims knows how much the Florida Classic means to his university.
He knows what it means to Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities community.
With both B-CU and rival Florida A&M vying for many of the same students in the state — both athletes and youngsters who will never set foot on a football field — Saturday’s Florida Classic at Camping World Stadium is a chance to show off.
“It’s a Classic that has been around for a long time,” Sims said during the MEAC’s weekly teleconference. “It’s been in Tampa, it’s been in Orlando. A lot of rich history. It’s bragging rights, but it’s also the upper hand in recruiting, not just student-athletes, but regular students in this conference. In this state, we’re fighting for a lot of the same kids and to be able to say that you won the Florida Classic that year, it’ll make a big difference in this thing.
“This history is phenomenal. It’s outstanding. Just the tradition of the Florida Classic itself and the sponsors and everyone who has a hand in putting this thing together and giving our student athletes a stage like this to put their talents out there and give the world something to see. To show that HBCU football can be great.”
For the last seven years, Bethune-Cookman has been able to show off. Sims has been at the helm for three of the Wildcats’ seven consecutive victories over FAMU. The two teams meet again at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“I think if you start thinking about stuff like that, you take your focus off of what it needs to be, and that’s the game at hand,” Sims said about Bethune-Cookman’s Classic winning streak.
“I think before we started this streak [Florida A&M] had a long winning streak. I don’t think you really put that into it. When you’re talking about these rivalry games, you can’t look at wins, losses. Throw the records out. You can’t look at streaks. The first year that I was in this conference [as an assistant coach in 2010] we were 10-0 going into the Classic and they knocked us off.”
Bethune-Cookman (6-5, 4-2 MEAC) is in a familiar position heading into Saturday’s game. The resurgence of FAMU (6-4, 5-1 MEAC) has been impressive, but the Wildcats are once again fighting for a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title. The Rattlers guarantee themselves at least a share of the crown with a win on Saturday, but FAMU’s recent stumble against Howard opened the door for other teams to share the conference championship.
If the Wildcats win on Saturday and North Carolina A&T (8-2, 5-1 MEAC) loses, then BethuneCookman gets a share of the MEAC title for the first time since 2015. Only Florida A&M and North Carolina A&T are in position to reach the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl, however.
“I think you have to treat this game similar to how you treat a homecoming game,” Sims said. “We’re not here to be involved in all the festivities and all the events. We’re part of the entertainment. That’s just the way that I speak to my guys about it. We’re not here to be involved in all the activities. That’s not for us.”
Sims said B-CU’s recent dominance over Florida A&M doesn’t mean much, especially since the Rattlers are playing with newfound fire under first-year coach Willie Simmons.
“I don’t think you can look at anything in the past when you talk about these types of games,” Sims said. “We understand that they have a lot of great athletes and they have a great coaching staff and their record proves that. They’ve been put in position to be successful every way.
“Coach Simmons is doing a great job. He had some new players he brought in, but he has some of the same guys there, he’s just brought a new energy to that program. We definitely have to be prepared to step in and play an A-1 football game on Saturday.”