Game Name: | Celebration Bowl |
Subheader: | 9th Celebration Bowl |
Title Sponsor: | Cricket |
Date Game Played: | December 14 |
Year Game Played: | 2024 |
Football Season: | 2024 |
Stadium: | Mercedes-Benz Stadium |
City: | Atlanta, Georgia |
Home School: | South Carolina State University |
Home Name Short: | South Carolina State |
Home Nickname: | Bulldogs |
Home Record: | 9–2 |
Home Conference: | MEAC |
Home Rank Stats: | 20 |
Home Rank Coaches: | 18 |
Home Coach: | Chennis Berry |
Us Network: | ABC |
The 2024 Celebration Bowl is a college football bowl game scheduled to played on December 14, 2024, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The ninth annual Celebration Bowl will feature South Carolina State, champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). The game is scheduled to began at 12:00 p.m. EST and will air on ABC.[1] Sponsored by Cricket Wireless, the game is officially known as the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
The SWAC and MEAC are the two NCAA Division I conferences of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The Celebration Bowl thus serves as a de facto black college football national championship.
The Celebration Bowl is the only one of the 2024–25 bowl games involving teams from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The NCAA will have a 24-team bracket tournament to determine a champion for the 2024 FCS football season.
See main article: 2024 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team. South Carolina State secured their Celebration Bowl berth with a win over Morgan State on November 16, clinching the MEAC title for the Bulldogs.[2] South Carolina State suffered two losses in their first three regular-season games, falling to Florida A&M and Georgia Southern. The Bulldogs then won their next seven games, improving to 8–2 overall (4–0 in conference) at the time they secured their bowl berth.
SC State will play the winner of the SWAC Championship Game, played on December 7 between Jackson State and Southern.