The Eddie Robinson Classic was college football "kickoff" game played in late August from 1997 through 2002 at various sites. The game was named after legendary 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 Pigskin Classic, the Eddie Robinson Classic or the Kickoff Classic). In 2002, the NCAA began to allow every team to play 12 regular season games, creating a disincentive for football programs to play each other on a neutral field when scheduling an extra home game is considered far more desirable. Thus, the Classic games were effectively discontinued [1] However, in 2008 and 2009, the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff was organized as a neutral-site game held in Atlanta, Ga.
| Year | Date | Site | Winning team | Losing team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | August 28 | Ohio Stadium Columbus, Ohio |
Ohio State | 24 | Wyoming | 10 |
| 1998 | August 29 | Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska |
Nebraska | 56 | Louisiana Tech | 27 |
| 1999 | August 28 | Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, Indiana |
Notre Dame | 48 | Kansas | 13 |
| 2000 | August 26 | Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, Missouri |
Kansas State | 27 | Iowa | 7 |
| 2001 | August 25 | Camp Randall Stadium Madison, Wisconsin |
Wisconsin | 26 | Virginia | 17 |
| 2002 | August 24 | Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, Missouri |
Florida State | 38 | Iowa State | 31 |