Military Classic of the South

Military Classic of the South
SportFootball
First meetingOctober 16, 1920
VMI, 35–0
Latest meetingNovember 1, 2025
The Citadel, 35–24
Next meetingNovember 14, 2026
at Lexington, Virginia
TrophySilver Shako
Statistics
Meetings total81
All-time seriesThe Citadel leads, 46–33–2
Trophy seriesThe Citadel leads, 32–13–1
Largest victoryThe Citadel, 50–0 (1992)
Longest win streakThe Citadel, 12 (2003–2018)
Current win streakThe Citadel, 2 (2024–present)
240km
149miles
VMI
The Citadel
Locations of The Citadel and VMI

The Military Classic of the South is an American college football rivalry game played between The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute. The first game between VMI and The Citadel was in 1920. The game has been played nearly continuously since World War II; since then, only five seasons have seen the game not played.

The original “Military Classic of the South” was previously played between Virginia Tech (VPI) and VMI. It was played on Thanksgiving Day every year beginning in 1913 and lasting until 1985. As Virginia Tech continued to expand its student body from cadets (similar to current day Citadel), the game quickly became unmatched and VMI left the series in 1985.