The road to the 2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Football Championship and the opportunity to play in the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl will come to an end this weekend, as the final full weekend of MEAC football will take place. Entering Saturday’s games, only Florida A&M (FAMU) and North Carolina A&T State (NCAT) will have an opportunity to clinch a berth in the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl, while both teams also have an opportunity to win an outright MEAC championship.
The MEAC’s tiebreaker process is solely to determine which team will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the 2018 Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl. In the event of a tie for the conference title, all teams included in the tie will share the title and be named co-champions.
Florida A&M controls its own destiny, as a win on Saturday at the Florida Classic clinches a berth to the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl and at least a share of the MEAC championship. A FAMU win, coupled with a loss by North Carolina A&T State to North Carolina Central, would give FAMU an outright MEAC championship.
North Carolina A&T State can win an outright MEAC championship and return to the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl with a win on Saturday and a Florida A&M loss.
If both Florida A&M and North Carolina A&T State win, both teams would be declared co-champions at 6-1 with FAMU earning a bid to the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl based on its head-to-head win over NCAT. North Carolina A&T State would still be eligible for an at-large berth in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs.
If the Aggies lose and Florida A&M loses to Bethune-Cookman, coupled with wins by South Carolina State in its final two games, the Aggies would be declared co-champions with FAMU, B-CU and S.C. State at 5-2 and clinch a berth to the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl. In this scenario, North Carolina A&T and Bethune-Cookman would have the best record (2-1) amongst the four tied teams, with North Carolina A&T State representing the MEAC in the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl due to its head-to-head win over Bethune-Cookman.
If the Aggies lose, Florida A&M loses to Bethune-Cookman and S.C. State drops one of its final two games, the Aggies would be declared co-champions with FAMU and B-CU at 5-2. All three teams would remain tied (1-1) in its head-to-head match-ups and the Aggies would earn the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl bid based on earning 14 points by virtue of its non-conference wins against FBS and FCS opponents. B-CU has attained four (4) points for its win over FCS Mississippi Valley State while FAMU does not have any wins versus Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) or FCS opponents.
The following are the remaining games for each team involved in the race and the various tiebreaking scenarios that would determine the MEAC’s Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl participant:
In other MEAC news, the Savannah State/Howard football game, a non-conference game which was originally postponed on Sept. 15 due to Hurricane Florence, will not be rescheduled. The South Carolina State/N.C. Central contest which was scheduled for Sept. 15 but also postponed due to Hurricane Florence, will be played on Nov. 24 in Orangeburg, S.C. as the game will count towards the MEAC standings.
| MEAC Tiebreaker: | ||
| 1. If FAMU wins, NCAT loses: | Clinches MEAC Championship outright | (AFRCB: FAMU) |
| 2. If FAMU wins, NCAT wins: | FAMU, NCAT declared co-champions | (AFRCB: FAMU) |
| 3. If NCAT wins, FAMU loses: | Clinches MEAC Championship outright | (AFRCB: NCAT) |
| 4. If NCAT loses, BCU wins, SCSU wins final two games: | NCAT, FAMU, BCU, SCSU declared co-champions | (AFRCB: NCAT) |
| 5. If NCAT loses, BCU wins, SCSU loses at least one game: | NCAT, FAMU, BCU declared co-champions | (AFRCB: NCAT) |
Courtesy: MEAC
