River Bell Classic

The River Bell Classic is the annual football game between Nicholls State University and Southeastern Louisiana University with the winner being presented with the River Bell Trophy.[1][2][3] The two schools are 94 miles apart and no two football-playing schools in the Southland Conference are as close as Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana.[4] The game played between the rivals[5] began in 1972 and was played annually until 1985 when Southeastern Louisiana dropped its football program.[6][7] It resumed 20 years later in 2005 when football was reinstated by the university.[5]

River Bell Classic
Nicholls Colonels
Southeastern Louisiana Lions
SportFootball
First meetingSeptember 30, 1972
Southeastern Louisiana 31, Nicholls State 9
Latest meetingNovember 17, 2022
Southeastern Louisiana 40, Nicholls 17
Next meetingNovember 18, 2023
TrophyRiver Bell Trophy
Statistics
Meetings total33
All-time seriesSoutheastern Louisiana, 17–16
Largest victorySoutheastern Louisiana, 62–3 (2014)
Longest win streakNicholls State, 7 (1981–2006)
Current win streakSoutheastern Louisiana, 1 (2022–present)
🌍
Locations of Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana

The River Bell Trophy, which was redesigned for the 2012 contest, is a wooden trophy which has a ship's bell under an arch which reads "River Bell Classic".[5][8] On each side of the bell are the teams' athletic logos with Nicholls on the left and Southeastern Louisiana on the right. Underneath the bell is a plaque surrounded by the yearly victors on each side of the plaque. The trophy was conceived by the Phi Chapter Alumni Association of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity at Southeastern Louisiana.

Game results
Nicholls victoriesSoutheastern Louisiana victories
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
1 September 30, 1972 Hammond, LA Southeastern Louisiana 31–9
2 September 29, 1973 Hammond, LA Southeastern Louisiana 10–0
3 November 16, 1974 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 10–0
4 November 15, 1975 New Orleans, LA Nicholls State 14–6
5 November 13, 1976 New Orleans, LA Southeastern Louisiana 17–7
6 November 12, 1977 Thibodaux, LA Southeastern Louisiana 17–14
7 November 11, 1978 New Orleans, LA Southeastern Louisiana 10–0
8 November 10, 1979 Hammond, LA Southeastern Louisiana 38–0
9 November 15, 1980 Thibodaux, LA Southeastern Louisiana 35–20
10 November 14, 1981 Hammond, LA Nicholls State 29–17
11 November 20, 1982 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 20–14
12 November 19, 1983 Hammond, LA Nicholls State 6–0
13 November 17, 1984 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 36–7
14 November 23, 1985 Hammond, LA Nicholls State 21–17
15 November 12, 2005 Hammond, LA Nicholls State 38–28
16 October 7, 2006 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 14–10
17 November 17, 2007 Hammond, LA Southeastern Louisiana 17–13
No.DateLocationWinnerScore
18 November 22, 2008 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 35–28
19 November 19, 2009 Hammond, LA Nicholls State 45–30
20 November 18, 2010 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 27–25
21 November 17, 2011 Hammond, LA Southeastern Louisiana 31–14
22 November 15, 2012 Thibodaux, LA Southeastern Louisiana 35–16
23 November 21, 2013 Hammond, LA Southeastern Louisiana 52–27
24 November 20, 2014 Thibodaux, LA Southeastern Louisiana 62–3
25 November 19, 2015 Hammond, LA Nicholls State 27–24
26 November 17, 2016 Thibodaux, LA Southeastern Louisiana 44–42
27 November 16, 2017 Hammond, LA Southeastern Louisiana 21–17
28 November 15, 2018 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls 44–0
29 November 21, 2019 Hammond, LA Nicholls 28–27
30 April 10, 2021 Thibodaux, LA Southeastern Louisiana 52–45
31 October 9, 2021 Thibodaux, LA Southeastern Louisiana 58–48
32 November 18, 2021 Hammond, LA Nicholls 45–42
33 November 17, 2022 Thibodaux, LA Southeastern Louisiana 40–17
Series: Southeastern Louisiana leads 17–16

See also

References
  1. "Southeastern battles back, nips Nicholls 21-17 in River Bell Classic". The New Orleans Advocate. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  2. "Bragging Rights". myneworleans.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  3. "Cox Sports TV to broadcast annual River Bell Classic". geauxcolonels.com. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  4. "Lions, Colonels set for Annual Battle in the River Bell Classic". lionsports.net. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  5. "River Bell Classic". lionsports.net. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  6. "Southland's Week 12 features ASN, ESPN3 Broadcasts". southland.org. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  7. "The River Bell stays in Hammond". lionsroarnews.com. 18 November 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  8. Beck, Stan; Wilkinson, Jack (19 September 2013). College Sports Traditions [Picking Up Butch, Silent Night, and Hundreds of Others]. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 315. ISBN 978-0810891210. Retrieved May 28, 2019.

Additional sources
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