NORFOLK, Va., Nov. 9, 2021 — The road to the 2021 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Football Championship and the opportunity to play in the Cricket Celebration Bowl will come to an end in two weeks.
Entering Saturday’s games, only Norfolk State (NSU) and South Carolina State (SCSU) still have an opportunity to clinch a berth in the Cricket Celebration Bowl. SCSU has clinched at least a share of the MEAC championship, while the Spartans and North Carolina Central (NCCU) are in the running to claim a share as well.
The MEAC’s tiebreaker process is solely to determine which team will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the 2021 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.
South Carolina State (5-4 overall, 4-0 MEAC) can win the MEAC championship outright and earn a trip to the Cricket Celebration Bowl with a win over Norfolk State (6-3, 2-1 MEAC) on Nov. 20.
Norfolk State and North Carolina Central (4-5, 2-1 MEAC) both have two conference games remaining; if both teams win out, that leaves the Bulldogs, Spartans and Eagles all tied atop the MEAC standings at 4-1. All three teams would be named co-champions, and with each team 1-1 against the other two in head-to-head competition, the tiebreaker system would then give four points to teams based on each non-conference wins over FCS opponents.
Norfolk State, with wins over Saint Francis and Hampton, would get eight points. South Carolina State currently has four points for the win against Bethune-Cookman, while North Carolina Central also has four points after beating Alcorn State. If South Carolina State beats North Carolina A&T State, the Bulldogs will finish with eight points. North Carolina Central would be eliminated via tiebreaker in this scenario, and the procedures will revert back to head-to-head between Norfolk State and South Carolina State. See MEAC Football Tiebreaker System below.
If the Spartans win out and the Eagles lose one of their two remaining games, Norfolk State and South Carolina State would end the season 4-1 in MEAC play and be named co-champions — with the Spartans earning the trip to Atlanta.
If North Carolina Central wins out, and if Norfolk State falls at Delaware State this weekend but defeats South Carolina State next weekend, the Eagles and Bulldogs will end the season tied at 4-1 and earn the title of co-champions. South Carolina State would earn the Cricket Celebration Bowl bid by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Below are the various tiebreaking scenarios that would determine the MEAC’s Cricket Celebration Bowl participant:
- If NSU defeats DSU, then SCSU defeats NSU: SCSU clinches MEAC Championship outright; SCSU goes to Celebration Bowl
- If NSU wins out, NCCU wins out, SCSU loses: NSU, NCCU, SCSU declared co-champions; NSU goes to Celebration Bowl
- If NSU wins out, NCCU loses at least one game: NSU and SCSU are co-champions; NSU goes to Celebration Bowl
- If NCCU wins out, NSU loses to DSU, SCSU loses to NSU: NCCU and SCSU are co-champions; SCSU goes to Celebration Bowl