[a] On August 29, 1976, officials of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association (CIAA) announced that their champions would meet in a postseason game called the Bicentennial Bowl, to be held at Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the first Saturday of December.

[3] In September 1977, the two conferences announced that the game would remain in Richmond, rebranded as the Gold Bowl, and move to the first Saturday in December.

The MEAC had been founded in 1970 with a core membership of six schools that seceded from the CIAA, with the ultimate goal of competing at the highest level of the NCAA.

[8] The Gold Bowl remains unique as the only postseason football contest that has matched teams from different divisions within the NCAA.

[14] The Gold Bowl Classic survived into the 21st century as an annual home game for Virginia Union, held at Hovey Field, its on-campus stadium, until 2007.