2023 Celebration Bowl Betting Lines - Howard vs. Florida A&M Odds

Celebration Bowl Lines - Howard vs. Florida A&M Odds

Since 2015, the Celebration Bowl has served as the national championship game of Historic Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This year, the Howard Bison of the MEAC will face the Florida A&M Rattlers of the SWAC.

2023 Celebration Bowl at a Glance

Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023

Time (ET) / TV: 12:00 PM / ABC

Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Matchup: Howard Bison vs. Florida A&M Rattlers

College Football Betting Lines

Howard Bison TBA

Florida A&M Rattlers TBA

Total: TBA

Money Line: TBA

Celebration Bowl Game Preview

The Howard Bison finished the season 6-5 and won the MEAC title outright with a league record of 4-1. NC Central had the same conference record as Howard, but the Bison won the tie-breaker based on a 50-20 victory over NC Central in the regular season. Howard won four of its most recent five games, including two in a row to end the season.

Howard is led by QB Quinton Williams, who posted a 135.6 QBR with a 16/4 TD/INT ratio. WR Kasey Hawthorne caught 35 passes for 504 yards and five TDs. And then Jarett Hunter rushed for 602 yards, 4.5 yards per carry, and eight TDs.

The Florida A&M Rattlers have a record of 11-1 and were 8-0 champions of the SWAC. Florida A&M is ranked 5th in the FCS coaches poll. Florida A&M won its final ten games of the 2023 campaign. Head coach Willie Simmons has a record of 44-13 at Florida A&M, including a 32-5 mark in the SWAC with two conference titles.

Senior QB Jeremy Moussa compiled a 136.8 QBR with a 19/7 TD/INT ratio. WR Morris Riley caught 31 passes for 621 yards, good for 20.0 yards per catch with five TDs. RB Terrell Jennings added 606 rushing yards, 6.0 yards per carry, and eight TDs.

Celebration Bowl Prediction

In this situation, Florida A&M has a much more impressive resume.

Celebration Bowl Format

The Celebration Bowl was founded in 2015 and was contested between the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Both leagues are the predominant athletic conferences for historically black colleges and universities. The Celebration Bowl serves as the de facto national championship of black college football. Among the unique aspects of the Celebration Bowl is that it is the only active bowl game to feature programs from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).

Once upon a time, the Pelican Bowl and Heritage Bowl served the role that the Celebration Bowl now fulfills.

Celebration Bowl Game Results

North Carolina A&T dominated this game in much of its early history, winning four times. Their string of wins ended in 2020 because of the pandemic and then South Carolina State won the game in 2021.

In 2022 the Celebration Bowl had what was its biggest matchup in history. A record crowd of 49,670 was on hand for the contest – the first to be decided in overtime — as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) continued its dominance over the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) with its sixth win in the seven-year history of the Celebration Bowl.

The loss was the second in as many years for Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders suffered a defeat in the postseason Classic between the two conferences. Sanders, after three seasons as Tiger head coach, is headed to a similar position at Colorado. Jackson State fell to South Carolina State 31-10 in 2021.

The underdog Eagles, who finished the season 10-2 and won the MEAC with a 4-1 worksheet, rolled up 482 yards of total offense in the contest, with 276 coming on the ground. Running back Latrell Collier led the Eagle ground attack with 98 yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts and also had five catches for 40 yards.

Richard was close behind in the rushing department with 97 yards and two scores on 22 tries. The NCCU signal caller also completed 15 of 20 passes for 175 yards and a score in the victory. The junior of Belle Glade, FL had scoring runs of four and one yard and completed a 12-yard scoring pass to Quention McCall. Collier added a seven-yard scoring run and Adrian Olivo field goals of 32 and 21 yards in the win.

2023-24 College Football Bowl Games

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