# Celebration Bowl

The Celebration Bowl is a postseason college football bowl game, first played in the 2015 season, contested between the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC)—the two prominent conferences of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in NCAA Division I. It serves as the de facto national championship of black college football. The game is held annually in Atlanta on the third weekend of December, and has been played at the Georgia Dome and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It is currently the only active bowl game to feature teams from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

## History

The Celebration Bowl is a successor to two previous bowl games between the MEAC and SWAC, the Pelican Bowl and Heritage Bowl. Because the Celebration Bowl takes place during the FCS playoff tournament, neither the SWAC nor the MEAC can send their champion to the tournament. At the time the Celebration Bowl was inaugurated, the SWAC's regular season already extended too late into the year for its champion to enter the FCS playoffs, while the MEAC dropped its automatic bid to the FCS playoffs in order to send its champion to the Celebration Bowl.
The game is organized by ESPN Events, which also runs the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, the annual interconference game between the two conferences held over Labor Day weekend. The Celebration Bowl was sponsored by the Air Force Reserve for three playings: 2015, 2016, and 2018. On December 9, 2020, Cricket Wireless signed on as title sponsor of the game, formally making it the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
In June 2017, the SWAC announced that it would discontinue the SWAC Championship Game following the 2017 playing, resulting in the SWAC regular season champion automatically qualifying for the Celebration Bowl. However, in June 2018, the SWAC reversed course and continues to hold its championship game, with the winner advancing to the Celebration Bowl.
In 2020, the Celebration Bowl was not played, after the MEAC canceled all fall athletics due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the SWAC postponed its football season into the spring of 2021.

## Game results

| Date | MEAC team | MEAC team | SWAC team | SWAC team | Venue | Attendance | Series | Notes |
| December 19, 2015 | North Carolina A&T Aggies | 41 | Alcorn State Braves | 34 | Georgia Dome | 35,528 | MEAC, 1–0 | notes |
| December 17, 2016 | North Carolina Central Eagles | 9 | Grambling State Tigers | 10 | Georgia Dome | 31,096 | tied, 1–1 | notes |
| December 16, 2017 | North Carolina A&T Aggies | 21 | Grambling State Tigers | 14 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | 25,873 | MEAC, 2–1 | notes |
| December 15, 2018 | North Carolina A&T Aggies | 24 | Alcorn State Braves | 22 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | 31,672 | MEAC, 3–1 | notes |
| December 21, 2019 | North Carolina A&T Aggies | 64 | Alcorn State Braves | 44 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | 32,968 | MEAC, 4–1 | notes |
| 2020 | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | — | MEAC, 4–1 | — |
| December 18, 2021 | South Carolina State Bulldogs | 31 | Jackson State Tigers | 10 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | 48,653 | MEAC, 5–1 | notes |
| December 17, 2022 | North Carolina Central Eagles | 41 | Jackson State Tigers | 34 (OT) | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | 49,670 | MEAC, 6–1 | notes |
| December 16, 2023 | Howard Bison | 26 | Florida A&M Rattlers | 30 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | 41,108 | MEAC, 6–2 | notes |
| December 14, 2024 | South Carolina State Bulldogs | 7 | Jackson State Tigers | 28 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | 36,823 | MEAC, 6–3 | notes |

## MVPs

Two MVPs are selected for each game; one an offensive player, the other a defensive player.
| Year | Offensive MVP | Offensive MVP | Offensive MVP | Defensive MVP | Defensive MVP | Defensive MVP |
| Year | Player | Pos. | Team | Player | Pos. | Team |
| 2015 | Tarik Cohen | RB | North Carolina A&T | Denzel Jones | LB | North Carolina A&T |
| 2016 | Martez Carter | RB | Grambling State | Jameel Jackson | DB | Grambling State |
| 2017 | Marquell Cartwright | RB | North Carolina A&T | Franklin "Mac" McCain III | CB | North Carolina A&T |
| 2018 | Lamar Raynard | QB | North Carolina A&T | Richie Kittle | DB | North Carolina A&T |
| 2019 | Kylil Carter | QB | North Carolina A&T | Jacob Roberts | LB | North Carolina A&T |
| 2021 | Shaquan Davis | WR | South Carolina State | Cobie Durant | DB | South Carolina State |
| 2022 | Davius Richard | QB | North Carolina Central | Khalil Baker | DB | North Carolina Central |
| 2023 | Kelvin Dean | RB | Florida A&M | Isaiah Major | LB | Florida A&M |
| 2024 | Jacobian Morgan | QB | Jackson State | Jeremiah Williams | DL | Jackson State |
Source:

## Most appearances

Updated through the December 2024 playing (9 games, 18 total appearances). Wins appear in bold font in the Years column.
| Rank | Appearances | Team | Wins | Losses | Win pct. | Years |
| 1 | 4 | North Carolina A&T | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| 2 | 3 | Jackson State | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2021, 2022, 2024 |
| 2 | 3 | Alcorn State | 0 | 3 | .000 | 2015, 2018, 2019 |
| 3 | 2 | South Carolina State | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2021, 2024 |
| 3 | 2 | Grambling State | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2016, 2017 |
| 3 | 2 | North Carolina Central | 1 | 1 | .500 | 2016, 2022 |
| 4 | 1 | Florida A&M | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 2023 |
| 4 | 1 | Howard | 0 | 1 | .000 | 2023 |

## Game records

| Team | Record, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Most points scored (one team) | 64, North Carolina A&T vs. Alcorn State | 2019 |
| Most points scored (losing team) | 44, Alcorn State vs. North Carolina A&T | 2019 |
| Most points scored (both teams) | 108, North Carolina A&T vs. Alcorn State | 2019 |
| Fewest points allowed | 7, South Carolina State vs. Jackson State | 2024 |
| Largest margin of victory | 21, shared by: South Carolina State vs. Jackson State Jackson State vs. South Carolina State | 2021 2024 |
| Total yards | 574, North Carolina A&T vs. Alcorn State | 2019 |
| Rushing yards | 366, North Carolina A&T vs. Alcorn State | 2015 |
| Passing yards | 364, North Carolina A&T vs. Alcorn State | 2019 |
| First downs | 24, shared by: Alcorn State vs. North Carolina A&T Jackson State vs. North Carolina Central | 2019 2022 |
| Fewest yards allowed | 178, South Carolina State vs. Jackson State | 2024 |
| Fewest rushing yards allowed | 19, Jackson State vs. South Carolina State | 2021 |
| Fewest passing yards allowed | 106, Howard vs. Florida A&M | 2023 |
| Individual | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| All-purpose yards | 348, shared by: Tarik Cohen (North Carolina A&T) Shedeur Sanders (Jackson State) | 2015 2022 |
| Touchdowns (all-purpose) | 5, Shedeur Sanders (Jackson State) | 2022 |
| Rushing yards | 295, Tarik Cohen (North Carolina A&T) | 2015 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 3, Tarik Cohen (North Carolina A&T) | 2015 |
| Passing yards | 364, Kylil Carter (North Carolina A&T) | 2019 |
| Passing touchdowns | 6, Kylil Carter (North Carolina A&T) | 2019 |
| Receiving yards | 150, Chris Blair (Alcorn State) | 2019 |
| Receptions | 10, Elijah Bell (North Carolina A&T) | 2017 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 3, Shaquan Davis (South Carolina State) | 2021 |
| Tackles | 17, Aaron Smith (South Carolina State) | 2024 |
| Sacks | 2, James Houston (Jackson State) | 2021 |
| Interceptions | 1, shared by multiple players | |
| Long Plays | Record, Player, Team vs. Opponent | Year |
| Touchdown run | 83 yds., Tarik Cohen (North Carolina A&T) | 2015 |
| Touchdown pass | 85 yds., Shedeur Sanders to Kevin Coleman Jr. (Jackson State) | 2022 |
| Kickoff return | 79 yds., Malik Wilson (North Carolina A&T) | 2018 |
| Punt return | 84 yds., Anthony Williams, Jr. (Alcorn State) | 2015 |
| Interception return | 38 yds., Anthony Petty (Jackson State) | 2024 |
| Fumble return | 3 yds, Taurence Wilson (Alcorn State) | 2019 |
| Punt | 74 yds., Dyson Roberts (South Carolina State) | 2021 |
| Field goal | 45 yds., Cody Jones (North Carolina A&T) | 2015 |

## Broadcasting

Television and radio coverage of the bowl has included play-by-play announcers, color commentators, and sideline reporters.

### Television

| Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentary | Sideline reporter |
| 2015 | ABC | Mark Neely | Jay Walker | Tiffany Greene |
| 2016 | ABC | Mark Neely | Jay Walker | Tiffany Greene |
| 2017 | ABC | Mark Neely | Jay Walker | Tiffany Greene |
| 2018 | ABC | Mark Jones | Dusty Dvoracek & Jay Walker | Molly McGrath & Roddy Jones |
| 2019 | ABC | Mark Jones | Dusty Dvoracek & Jay Walker | Tiffany Greene & Roddy Jones |
| 2021 | ABC | Mark Jones | Robert Griffin III & Jay Walker | Quint Kessenich & Tiffany Greene |
| 2022 | ABC | Tiffany Greene | Jay Walker | Tiffany Blackmon |
| 2023 | ABC | Tiffany Greene | Jay Walker | Quint Kessenich |
| 2024 | ABC | Tiffany Greene | Jay Walker | Quint Kessenich |

### Radio

| Date | Network | Play-by-play | Color commentary | Sideline reporter |
| 2015 | RedVoice, LLC | Sam Crenshaw | Hugh Douglas | |
| 2016 | RedVoice, LLC | Sam Crenshaw | Hugh Douglas | Lericia Harris |
| 2017 | Gameday Radio | Sam Crenshaw | Randy McMichael | Lericia Harris |
| 2018 | Gameday Radio | Andy Demetra | Randy McMichael | Lericia Harris |
| 2019 | Bowlday Radio | Travis Jones | Randy McMichael | Tenitra Batiste |
| 2021 | Bowl Season Radio | Travis Jones | D. J. Shockley | Tenitra Batiste |
| 2022 | ESPN Radio | Anish Shroff | Max Starks | Harry Lyles Jr. |
| 2023 | Bowl Season Radio | Travis Jones | Marshall Newhouse | Olivia Moody |
| 2024 | ESPN Radio | Jason Ross Jr. | Max Starks | Jordan Reid |