NORFOLK, Va., — The road to the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) football championship and the opportunity to play in the Celebration Bowl (CB) will come to an end this weekend.
Entering Saturday’s games, only North Carolina A&T State (NCAT) and South Carolina State (SCSU) will have an opportunity to clinch a trip to the Celebration Bowl, while both teams also have an opportunity to win the MEAC championship outright.
The MEAC’s tiebreaker process is solely to determine which team will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the 2019 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.
North Carolina A&T State controls its own destiny, as a win over North Carolina Central on Saturday in the Aggie-Eagle Classic clinches a berth to the Celebration Bowl and at least a share of the MEAC championship for the third year in a row. An Aggies win, coupled with a loss by South Carolina State to Norfolk State, would give NCAT the outright MEAC championship.
South Carolina State can win the MEAC championship outright and earn a trip to the Celebration Bowl with a win on Saturday and a North Carolina A&T State loss.
If North Carolina A&T State and South Carolina State both win, they will be declared co-champions with a 6-2 record, with the Aggies earning the Celebration Bowl bid based on their 22-20 win over the Bulldogs on Nov. 2. South Carolina State would still be eligible for an at-large berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs.
If both the Aggies and Bulldogs lose on Saturday, North Carolina A&T State would be declared co-champions with South Carolina State and Norfolk State at 5-3 and clinch a berth to the Celebration Bowl. In this scenario, North Carolina A&T State would have the best record (2-0) amongst the three tied teams, giving the Aggies the bowl bid.
In the event that Bethune-Cookman defeats Florida A&M and both North Carolina A&T State and South Carolina State lose, the Wildcats would then share the title with NCAT, SCSU and Norfolk State and the Aggies would get the Celebration Bowl berth because NCAT would have the best record (3-0) among the four tied teams.
The following are the various tiebreaker scenarios that would determine the MEAC’s Celebration Bowl participant:
2. If SCSU wins, NCAT loses: SCSU Clinches MEAC Championship outright (CB: SCSU)
3. If NCAT wins, SCSU wins: NCAT and SCSU declared co-champions (CB: NCAT)
4. If NCAT loses, BCU wins, SCSU loses, NSU wins: NCAT, BCU, SCSU, NSU declared co-champions (CB: NCAT)
5. If NCAT loses, SCSU loses, NSU wins: NCAT, SCSU, NSU declared co-champions (CB: NCAT)
Courtesy: MEAC
