FAMU Marching 100 is a finalist for ESPN’s HBCU Band of the Year after last year’s victory
FAMU Marching 100 kicks off 2024 Veterans Day parade in Tallahassee
FAMU Marching 100 kicks off 2024 Veterans Day parade in Tallahassee
- Florida A&M University’s Marching 100 band is a finalist in this year’s ESPN HBCU Band of the Year national championship.
- The Marching 100, last year’s winner, will compete against Southern University’s Human Jukebox for the Division I title.
- Some HBCU band directors have criticized the competition, arguing it improperly treats the art form like a sport.
- Despite the debate, the final competition is scheduled to take place on December 12 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Florida A&M University’s “incomparable” Marching 100 band has a chance to defend its title as one of the finalists in the 2025 HBCU Band of the Year national championship by ESPN.
After taking home the trophy in last year’s competition and being named the best band among historically Black colleges and universities across Division I schools – beating the North Carolina A&T State University Blue & Gold Marching Machine – the world-renowned FAMU band is going up against Southern University’s Human Jukebox, which is the other finalist this year.
The HBCU Band of the Year national championship, sponsored by Red Lobster, is a season-long competition where marching band halftime shows are judged and ranked by a panel of experts monthly to determine which bands will move on to Division I and Division II conferences. In Division II, Fayetteville State University and Miles College – the 2024 winner – are moving on to the final round.
But when it comes to the competition’s structure, there has been a growing debate about the ranking system used to grade HBCU marching bands, and how it “reduces an educational art form into a contest,” according to an HBCU Gameday report.
Band directors such as Donovan V. Wells of Bethune-Cookman University’s Marching Wildcats and Roderick Little of Jackson State University’s Sonic Boom of the South have shared statements about their concerns.
“As Director of Bands, I have never been a supporter of this competition concept,” Wells wrote. “There are better, more meaningful ways to showcase and celebrate the HBCU marching band art form without placing us in direct competition against one another. Marching band is not a sport – it is an academic entity.”
Wells and BCU’s Marching Wildcats will showcase along with FAMU Band Director Shelby Chipman and the Marching 100 at the Florida Classic Nov. 22 at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
Despite concerns about the ESPN contest, the national championship process moves forward as FAMU and Southern University’s bands will compete against each other for the winning title on Dec. 12 in Atlanta.
Tarah Jean is the higher education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, a member of the USA TODAY Network – Florida. She can be reached at tjean@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
