Sport Football Trophy Silver Shako | Next meeting October 28, 2017 Meetings total 72 | |
 | ||
First meeting 1920
VMI 35, The Citadel 0 Latest meeting November 12, 2016
The Citadel 30, VMI 20 | ||
The Military Classic of the South is an American college football rivalry game played by The Citadel Bulldogs football team of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and the VMI Keydets football team of the Virginia Military Institute. The teams first played in 1920, but the trophy that is currently awarded, the Silver Shako, was introduced in 1976. The game has been played nearly continuously since World War II, with no matchup in 1956, 2004, and 2008–2010. The Citadel Bulldogs have won the past ten meetings and fourteen of the last sixteen; they lead the series 40–30–2. At one point in 1967, the Keydets led the series 18–8–1. The Military Classic is the thirteenth oldest still-played rivalry in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the NCAA. Both teams were members of the Southern Conference (SoCon) from 1936 until 2003, when VMI left for the Big South Conference and were reunited in the SoCon when VMI returned in 2014.
The 72nd and most recent game of the series saw The Citadel defeat VMI 30–20 in Lexington, Virginia, at Alumni Memorial Field.
With the return of VMI to the SoCon, annual rivalries have been renewed in college baseball, women's soccer, track and field, and cross country. VMI remained in the SoCon in wrestling, and continued to compete annually with The Citadel in that sport while a full member of the Big South. The Bulldogs and Keydets both participated in the All-Military Classic basketball tournament, which began while VMI was a member of the Big South and concluded after four years with the two schools back in the Southern Conference.