The Norfolk State Spartans football team represents

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 a ...

Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

. The team plays their home games at

William "Dick" Price Stadium William "Dick" Price Football Stadium is a 30,000-seat, multi-purpose stadium located on the campus of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. It opened in 1997. The home of the Norfolk State Spartans football team, it was ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

History

Classifications

*1958–1972: NCAA College Division *1965–1969: NAIA *1970–1984: NAIA Division I *1973–1996: NCAA Division II *1997–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

Conference memberships

*1938–1952: Independent *1953–1960:

Eastern Intercollegiate Conference The Eastern Intercollegiate Conference (EIC) was an athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States. The conference sponsored men's college basketball and existed from 1932 to 1939, with teams in the Dist ...

*1961: Independent *1962–1996:

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. CIAA institutions mostly consist of historically black coll ...

*1997–1998: NCAA Division I–AA independent *1999–present:

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

Championships

Conference championships

Norfolk State won the 2011 MEAC football title, but the championship was subsequently stripped by the NCAA in June 2016.

Division championships

Bowl games

The Spartans have appeared in four bowl games, with a record of 0–3–1.

FCS Playoffs results

The Spartans have appeared in the FCS playoffs one time with an overall record of 0–1.

Division II Playoffs results

The Bears have appeared in the Division II playoffs one time with an overall record of 0–1.

Rivalries

Old Dominion

NSU and

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

played for the first time on November 26, 2011 in the first round of the FCS playoffs which resulted in a 35–18 Spartan loss. Old Dominion and NSU announced a new deal for a home and away series in 2013 and 2015 to help fill out open game dates for ODU's transition to the FBS. ODU plays at Foreman Field; NSU at Dick Price Stadium.

Hampton

As of the 2017 season, Norfolk State has a 28–26–1 series lead over the

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

, another historically black university in the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

area.

Notes

References

External links

* 1938 establishments in Virginia American football teams established in 1938 {{amfoot-team-stub