With two weeks left in the 2022 regular season, there are a multitude of scenarios to play out when determining the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football champion and which program will earn a bid to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
The MEAC’s tiebreaker process is solely to determine which team will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the 2022 Cricket 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.
First-place North Carolina Central (3-1 MEAC record) has the easiest path, needing to win its conference finale this weekend at Norfolk State to clinch at least a share of the conference title and a bid to the Cricket Celebration Bowl. An NCCU win, combined with one Howard loss in either of the Bison’s two remaining games, will give the Eagles the title outright.
If NCCU and Howard (2-1 MEAC) end up tied atop the standings, the Eagles would earn the bid to Atlanta by virtue of their 51-20 win over the Bison this past weekend.
The Eagles also hold the head-to-head edge over Delaware State (2-2 MEAC) and Morgan State (1-2 MEAC). In the event of a three-way tie atop the standings between the Eagles, Bears and Bulldogs, NCCU would win the tiebreaker thanks to two FCS non-conference wins (North Carolina A&T and New Hampshire), compared to one each for Morgan State and South Carolina State.
In order for Howard to win the MEAC outright and head to Atlanta, the Bison need to win their last two games (home against South Carolina State and at Morgan State) and have North Carolina Central lose to Norfolk State.
There are two scenarios in which defending MEAC and Cricket Celebration Bowl champion South Carolina State (1-2 MEAC) can still earn a return trip to Atlanta. Both involve Norfolk State defeating North Carolina Central this weekend and the Bulldogs winning out (giving them wins over both the Eagles and the Bison) and getting some help along the way.
Below are various tiebreaking scenarios that would determine the MEAC’s participant in the Cricket Celebration Bowl:
If NCCU defeats NSU and HOW loses to either SCSU or MSU: NCCU wins the MEAC title outright and goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
If NCCU defeats NSU and HOW wins out: NCCU and HOW are declared co-champions; NCCU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
If NSU defeats NCCU, MSU wins out, and SCSU loses to either HOW or NSU: NCCU and MSU are declared co-champions; NCCU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
If NSU defeats NCCU, MSU and SCSU both win out: NCCU, MSU, and SCSU are declared co-champions; NCCU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
If NSU defeats NCCU and HOW wins out: HOW wins the MEAC title outright and goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
If NSU defeats NCCU and HOW loses to either SCSU or MSU: NCCU and HOW are declared co-champions; NCCU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
If NSU defeats NCCU, SCSU wins out, and HOW defeats MSU: NCCU, HOW, and SCSU are declared co-champions; SCSU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
If NSU defeats NCCU, DSU defeats MSU, and HOW loses to either SCSU or MSU: NCCU, HOW, and DSU are declared co-champions; NCCU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
If NSU defeats NCCU, DSU defeats MSU, SCSU wins out, and HOW defeats MSU: NCCU, DSU, HOW, and SCSU are declared co-champions; SCSU goes to the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
MEAC Football Tiebreaker System
The tiebreaker system is used to determine which team will receive the conference’s berth to the Celebration Bowl. For a two-team or multiple-team tie, if the tied teams played each other, head-to-head competition will be used to determine the representative. For multiple ties, the head-to-head record versus all teams tied will be used to break the tie.
Once the multiple-team tie has been broken and there are two teams still tied, then you go back to head-to-head matchup. (The team that won the head-to-head matchup shall receive the berth to the Celebration Bowl.)
If a tie still exists, then the following shall be used:
Six (6) points will be awarded for a win against a non-conference Division I FBS team;
Four (4) points will be awarded for a win against a non-conference Division I FCS team;
Four (4) points will be subtracted for a loss against a non-Division I opponent.
The team with the highest point total shall receive the berth to the Celebration Bowl.
If a tie still exists, then the following shall be used:
The team with the highest Sagarin ranking will win the tiebreaker
A coin toss by the Commissioner will be the last tool used to break the tie
Courtesy: MEAC
