College football game between Virginia Union and Lincoln, opening 'One Philly HBCU Week 2026' at Lincoln Financial Field.
Virginia Union and Lincoln face off at Lincoln Financial Field on Friday, October 30, 2026. It's a college football game that opens 'One Philly HBCU Week 2026', an expanded slate of HBCU football at the Linc.
The setting carries a lot of weight. The nation's two oldest HBCUs were both founded in the Philadelphia region: Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in 1837 and Lincoln University in 1854. Lincoln was the first HBCU in the country to grant college degrees. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, a Lincoln University alumna of the class of 1994, championed bringing the game to the city.
The weekend doesn't stop there. On Saturday, October 31, the HBCU Battle of the Legends returns with a rematch between Delaware State and Norfolk State. That matchup is led by former Eagles teammates DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick, who both entered NCAA Division I head coaching for the first time the same season, just ten days apart. Their inaugural meeting drew 47,266 fans, made it onto Good Morning America, and broadcast nationally on ESPNU, following a campus celebration that hosted Stephen A. Smith's First Take.
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So if you're around that weekend, you've got two games back-to-back at the Linc. Virginia Union vs. Lincoln kicks things off on Friday, October 30, and the Battle of the Legends follows on Saturday, October 31. Both are part of One Philly HBCU Week.
