Charlotte, NC (September 23, 2022) – The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the nation's oldest historically black athletic conference, has introduced the series entitled “Instant Legacy Games”.
Following each week’s slate of football games, the CIAA will designate one contest as an “Instant Legacy Game” and that contest will be made available for free on-demand on the CIAA Sports Network for every CIAA fan to relive.
The first iteration of Instant Legacy Games will be the football game between Bowie State University and Shaw University, which took place September 17, 2022. In the game, the Bears defeated the three-time defending CIAA champions Bulldogs, 17-14. As a newly-minted Instant Legacy Game, that livestream is now immediately available for free on-demand.
The game was thrilling from beginning to end as Shaw scored the game-winning touchdown with 39 seconds left and Bowie State’s last-ditch hail mary attempt was intercepted in the endzone as time expired.
The win was significant because it snapped an 18-game winning streak in conference play for Bowie State, which entered the game ranked at #20 by the American Football Coaches Association DII Coaches Poll and was predicted to finish first in the conference’s preseason coaches poll.
With the start of conference play and all of the league matchups featured on the CIAA Sports Network, this week marked the perfect opportunity to introduce this exciting new series for fans. This series will continue through the remainder of the football regular season and will be announced at the same time with the Football Players of the Week. An iteration of the Instant Legacy Game series will also exist for the regular season conference slate for basketball.
The first two weeks of the football season, the non-conference portion, delivered thrillers as well. On September 10, Virginia Union earned a historic win over the then-ranked number two team in the country, Valdosta State. Running back Jada Byers went on the road and rushed for a CIAA single-game record 319 yards en route to a 45-40 victory and National Player of the Week honors.
In Week 1, Bowie State earned a ranked victory over a non-conference foe, defeating the 16th-ranked New Haven, 27-20. Quarterback Dion Golatt Jr. and the Bulldogs scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-point deficit. The game-winning touchdown came with nine seconds remaining in the game on a pass from Golatt Jr.
The Instant Legacy Games series draws inspiration from the previous CIAA series, entitled “Live The Legacy Classic Championship Games.” The series launched in 2019 and continued through 2021. Currently, 55 classic games are available on-demand for free on the CIAA Sports Network. The Legacy Classic games that are available span from 1994 to 2019 and features contests such as the 1994 Labor Day Classic between Virginia State and Norfolk State University and the 2008 Women’s Basketball Championship between Johnson C. Smith and Shaw.
About the CIAA
Founded in 1912, the
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is the first and longest-running, African American athletic conference in the U.S. and one of the most recognized conferences in Division II. The CIAA conducts 14 championships attended by more than 150,000 fans from around the country. In 2020, the conference celebrated the special 75th anniversary of its Championship Basketball Tournament - an event that has become a must-see in the African American community. The Basketball Tournament has been honored as a Champion of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism by Sports Destination Management, the leading publication with the largest circulation of sports event planners and tournament directors in the sports tourism market, for both 2018 and 2019. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the CIAA is governed by the Presidents and Chancellors of its 12 member institutions: Bowie State University, Claflin University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, Johnson C. Smith University, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, Livingstone College, Saint Augustine's University, Shaw University, Virginia State University, Virginia Union University, and Winston-Salem State University. Chowan University is an associate member in football and women’s bowling. For more information on the CIAA, visit
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