River Bell Classic
The River Bell Classic is the annual football game between Nicholls State University and Southeastern Louisiana University with the winner being presented with the River Bell Trophy.[1][2][3] The two schools are 94 miles apart and no two football-playing schools in the Southland Conference are as close as Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana.[4] The game played between the rivals[5] began in 1972 and was played annually until 1985 when Southeastern Louisiana dropped its football program.[6][7] It resumed 20 years later in 2005 when football was reinstated by the university.[5]
Sport | Football |
---|---|
First meeting | September 30, 1972 Southeastern Louisiana 31, Nicholls State 9 |
Latest meeting | November 21, 2019 Nicholls 28, Southeastern Louisiana 27 |
Next meeting | November 19, 2020 |
Trophy | River Bell Trophy |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 29 |
All-time series | Nicholls 15–14 |
Largest victory | Southeastern Louisiana, 62–3 (2014) |
Longest win streak | Nicholls State, 7 (1981–2006) |
Current win streak | Nicholls, 2 (2018–present) |
Locations of Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana |
The River Bell Trophy which was redesigned for the 2012 contest is a wooden trophy which has a ship's bell under an arch which reads "River Bell Classic".[5][8] On each side of the bell are the teams athletic logos with Nicholls on the left and Southeastern Louisiana on the right. Underneath the bell is a plaque surrounded by the yearly victors on each side of the plaque. The trophy was conceived by the Phi Chapter Alumni Association of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity at Southeastern Louisiana.
Game results
Nicholls victories | Southeastern Louisiana victories |
No. | Date | Location | Winner | Score | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | September 30, 1972 | Hammond, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 31–9 | ||||
2 | September 29, 1973 | Hammond, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 10–0 | ||||
3 | November 16, 1974 | Thibodaux, LA | Nicholls State | 10–0 | ||||
4 | November 15, 1975 | Thibodaux, LA | Nicholls State | 14–6 | ||||
5 | November 13, 1976 | New Orleans, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 17–7 | ||||
6 | November 12, 1977 | Thibodaux, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 17–14 | ||||
7 | November 11, 1978 | New Orleans, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 10–0 | ||||
8 | November 10, 1979 | Hammond, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 38–0 | ||||
9 | November 15, 1980 | Thibodaux, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 35–20 | ||||
10 | November 14, 1981 | Hammond, LA | Nicholls State | 29–17 | ||||
11 | November 20, 1982 | Thibodaux, LA | Nicholls State | 20–14 | ||||
12 | November 19, 1983 | Hammond, LA | Nicholls State | 6–0 | ||||
13 | November 17, 1984 | Thibodaux, LA | Nicholls State | 36–7 | ||||
14 | November 23, 1985 | Hammond, LA | Nicholls State | 21–17 | ||||
15 | November 12, 2005 | Hammond, LA | Nicholls State | 38–28 | ||||
16 | October 7, 2006 | Thibodaux, LA | Nicholls State | 14–10 | ||||
17 | November 17, 2007 | Hammond, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 17–13 | ||||
18 | November 22, 2008 | Thibodaux, LA | Nicholls State | 35–28 | ||||
19 | November 19, 2009 | Hammond, LA | Nicholls State | 45–30 | ||||
20 | November 18, 2010 | Thibodaux, LA | Nicholls State | 27–25 | ||||
21 | November 17, 2011 | Hammond, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 31–14 | ||||
22 | November 15, 2012 | Thibodaux, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 35–16 | ||||
23 | November 21, 2013 | Hammond, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 52–27 | ||||
24 | November 20, 2014 | Thibodaux, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 62–3 | ||||
25 | November 19, 2015 | Hammond, LA | Nicholls State | 27–24 | ||||
26 | November 17, 2016 | Thibodaux, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 44–42 | ||||
27 | November 16, 2017 | Hammond, LA | Southeastern Louisiana | 21–17 | ||||
28 | November 15, 2018 | Thibodaux, LA | Nicholls | 44–0 | ||||
29 | November 21, 2019 | Hammond, LA | Nicholls | 28–27 | ||||
Series: Nicholls leads 15–14 |
References
- "Southeastern battles back, nips Nicholls 21-17 in River Bell Classic". The New Orleans Advocate. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- "Bragging Rights". myneworleans.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
- "Cox Sports TV to broadcast annual River Bell Classic". geauxcolonels.com. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
- "Lions, Colonels set for Annual Battle in the River Bell Classic". lionsports.net. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
- "River Bell Classic". lionsports.net. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
- "Southland's Week 12 features ASN, ESPN3 Boardcasts". southland.org. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- "The River Bell stays in Hammond". lionsroarnews.com. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
- Beck, Stan; Wilkinson, Jack. College Sports Traditions [Picking Up Butch, Silent Night, and Hundreds of Others]. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 315. ISBN 0810891212. Retrieved May 28, 2019.