The last games between the two were held Nov. 18, 1998, with an announced crowd of 2,116.

"This (renewal) should have happened a long time ago," said A&M director of athletics Bryan Hicks. "We're eager. We're excited. And we're going to have a lot of fun."

This event will be only a single game between the men's teams. Hicks and his UAH counterpart, E.J. Brophy, acknowledged they will look at the possibility of including the women's teams in future Mayor's Cup competition.

The schools will be seeking a corporate partner to assist in marketing the event and will be taking equal responsibility in administering and publicizing the game. Alabama A&M will officially be the home team, wearing white jerseys and being home team on the scoreboard.

Alabama A&M has an 18-5 edge in the series, with six consecutive wins; the UAH women lead their series 14-13.

Alabama A&M's men were 11-20 last season; the UAH men are coming off a season in which they were 25-6 and reached the NCAA Division II South Region finals.

The series died out because Alabama A&M moved to the NCAA Division I level, joining the Southwest Athletic Conference as an official member in 1999. Playing Division II teams can negatively impact a Division I program
and A&M chose to continue playing historic rivals from its previous D-II conference rather than UAH.

"Fifteen years ago, we were struggling and A&M was transitioning," said UAH coach Lennie Acuff. "They've made the transition and our program has grown to great heights. We're both on a lot more stable ground now than we were then."

"We need to be playing this game," Brophy said. "We think it's a healthy rivalry."

A&M coach Willie Hayes, who participated in the Mayor's Cup as both as Bulldog player and assistant coach, said, "This bring a lot. To see Alabama A&M and UAH play against each other is not only big for our schools but for our community.