State Fair Classic

[2] The State Fair Classic, held annually at the Cotton Bowl, began in 1925 featuring the Wiley College Wildcats and Langston University Lions.

[4] The contest always took place on "Negro Day" at the State Fair of Texas and would feature the city's black high school football championship in the afternoon followed by the much-anticipated college game at night.

From that point, Prairie View A&M maintained a presence in the Cotton Bowl with match-ups against Bishop and others over the years before moving its annual rivalry game against Grambling to the Cotton Bowl stadium in 1985 (the Panthers' series with Grambling had also previously been hosted by the State Fair of Louisiana before returning to on-campus venues in 1962).

Even though Prairie View brought football back in 1991, that year Grambling played North Carolina A&T, so it was not until 1992 that the classic would see the PVAMU–GSU showdown once again.

After attracting a title sponsor for 1995, it was rechristened as the Southwest Airlines Al Lipscomb State Fair Classic.