 Athletic events involving the two schools are fiercely competitive, and the week prior to "The Game" between Hampden–Sydney and Randolph-Macon is known as "Beat Macon Week".Several Hampden-Sydney athletes have gone on to successful coaching careers, including Russell Turner, the head coach of the UC-Irvine men's basketball team, and Ryan Odom, who led the #16 seed UMBC-Retrievers to a historic upset over #1 seed University of Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.Ryan Silverfield, an alumnus and former student-assistant with the Hampden-Sydney football program, was named head football coach at the University of Memphis just before the 2019 Cotton Bowl Classic after previously serving as an assistant with the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.