College football’s post-season kicks off Saturday with six bowl games, and the first is an all-FCS matchup between North Carolina A&T and Alcorn State from Atlanta.

Celebration Bowl Point Spread and Betting Analysis

The FCS is the level below FBS, and the FCS will crown its national champion on Jan. 5. The Celebration Bowl has been around since 2015 and it’s essentially the national championship game between historically black colleges and universities and pits the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwestern Athletic Conference. This is the only bowl that doesn’t feature two FBS programs facing off.

It’s the third trip to the Celebration Bowl for North Carolina A&T, which won last year 21-17 over Grambling and in 2015 by a score of 41-34 over this Alcorn State program. It’s Alcorn’s first trip back since.  The MEAC leads the overall Celebration Bowl series 2-1.

On the race to 10 points, NC A&T is -175 and Alcorn +128 – also the odds to score first. The favoured winning margin at +300 is the Aggies by 6-10 points.

North Carolina A&T Aggies

The Aggies’ two losses were by a combined four points, coming to Morgan State (16-13) and Florida A&M (22-21). They clinched the MEAC crown by closing the regular season with a 45-0 rout of North Carolina Central, outgaining the Eagles an obscene 539-41. That defence is led by lineman Darryl Johnson, who is one of four finalists for the Black College Football Player of the Year Award. The junior led the MEAC in sacks (10.5) and tackles-for-loss (18.5), to go with 47 total tackles and three pass breakups. North Carolina A&T ranks among the top five in the FCS in points allowed, total defence and rushing defence.  The Aggies did play one FBS program this season, upsetting East Carolina 28-23 on the Pirates’ field on Sept. 2. It was the third straight year NC A&T beat an FBS program.

Alcorn State Braves

The Braves finished atop the SWAC’s West Division for a fifth straight year and then beat Southern University 37-28 in the conference title game. Quarterback Noah Johnson passed for 135 yards and ran for 147 yards and two scores in the win. The sophomore, the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, is also up for the Black College Football Player of the Year Award. He led the SWAC in passing efficiency (137.7) and completion percentage (63.4) and was No. 2 in total offence. He also was among the leaders in rushing yards (960) and rushing scores (nine). Alcorn led the SWAC in points per game, yards per game and rushing yards per game. The Braves are no slouch on defence with 51 sacks, most in the FCS. Alcorn did play one major conference school, losing the season opener 41-0 at Georgia Tech.

Celebration Bowl Prediction Score

NC A&T 27, Alcorn State 23