2023 Celebration Bowl: Howard vs Florida A&M

[Professor Chaos]

This game will take place at Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta and will feature the MEAC co-champ Howard Bison and SWAC champ Florida A&M Rattlers. It will kick off at 12PM ET on Saturday 12/16 and will be broadcast nationally on ABC.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53372976359_a3c27c3ca3_o.jpg

[KPSUL]

Florida A&M is the obvious choice; however, the MEAC has won 6 out of the 7 Celebration Bowls and the last 5 in a row.

[bonarae]

Is it time for the SWAC champ to break the conference's Celebration Bowl curse? xchinscratchx

[WestCoastAggie]

Records don't matter. Howard will be well rested and have had plenty of time to scheme and game plan for FAMU. Plus, Howard's offensive line can absolutely bully FAMU's front-7.

[caribbeanhen]

Records don't matter. Howard will be well rested and have had plenty of time to scheme and game plan for FAMU. Plus, Howard's offensive line can absolutely bully FAMU's front-7.

Can we swap Howard for Harvard?

I would love to see Florida A&M play a good FCS team

[bonarae]

Bumping this up. Less than a week to go.

[ASU33]

Records don't matter. Howard will be well rested and have had plenty of time to scheme and game plan for FAMU. Plus, Howard's offensive line can absolutely bully FAMU's front-7.

Yeah I don't know about that one. FAMUs d-line is nasty and Howard struggled blocking Morgan State's defensive front.

[ngineer]

I'm looking forward to the halftime show...if they show it. FAMU's band is tremendous.

[gofurman]

Are these even good FCS teams? Really?

[caribbeanhen]

Harvard beat Howard 48-7 earlier this year

Florida A&M is probably a pretty good FCS team but we will never know for sure unfortunately

Having said that… Go Howard

[bonarae]

Are these even good FCS teams? Really?

What about NC Central? Remember they were thrashed by a really good playoff squad.... xrulesx

[KPSUL]

Are these even good FCS teams? Really?

Yes they are good FCS teams. But it's not the FCS playoffs, it a championship game between the Champs of the two HBCU Div 1 conferences. There's a ton of
history there and the games means a lot to millions of Americans. If you can't get into it, or resent the fact that these teams are getting so much exposure, then don't watch it. Pretty simple!

[RichH2]

Yes they are good FCS teams. But it's not the FCS playoffs, it a championship game between the Champs of the two HBCU Div 1 conferences. There's a ton of
history there and the games means a lot to millions of Americans. If you can't get into it, or resent the fact that these teams are getting so much exposure, then don't watch it. Pretty simple!

+1

[CHIP72]

Yes they are good FCS teams. But it's not the FCS playoffs, it a championship game between the Champs of the two HBCU Div 1 conferences. There's a ton of
history there and the games means a lot to millions of Americans. If you can't get into it, or resent the fact that these teams are getting so much exposure, then don't watch it. Pretty simple!

This is part of the reason I've posted those full college football schedules the last three weeks (and did the same on the D2 Football board and Reddit's CFB subreddit), as well as the "which football game on Saturday 12/16 interests you the most?" poll on the "Other Sports" subforum on here (which also lists the three NFL games scheduled today) - some people have interest in games that aren't DI-AA/FCS playoff games (or for most people who follow college football, games below the DI-A/FBS level). If you have interest in those games, you have a game listing in one spot. If you don't have interest, you can just ignore it.

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

Are these even good FCS teams? Really?

No

[POD Knows]

Is the SWAC the worst FCS conference? The are probably better than the Pioneer but that is about it

[dewey]

Yes they are good FCS teams. But it's not the FCS playoffs, it a championship game between the Champs of the two HBCU Div 1 conferences. There's a ton of
history there and the games means a lot to millions of Americans. If you can't get into it, or resent the fact that these teams are getting so much exposure, then don't watch it. Pretty simple!

100% agreed. Just enjoy the game vs trying to compare the teams against something else.

Dewey

[kdinva]

FAMU has risen, leads 24-16 in the 4th.

[POD Knows]

Is the SWAC the worst FCS conference? The are probably better than the Pioneer but that is about it
lol. Spoke too soon. 😆

[dewey]

Howard converts on a field goal attempt..

FAMU 24
Howard 19

Dewey

[dewey]

Howard with a pick 6.

Howard 26
FAMU 24
709 to go 4th quarter.

Dewey

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Flea Flicker in a national title game! Then a player ejection for spitting....yikes

[KPSUL]

That was a very entertaining, competitive game. Immensely better than last evening's massacre in Brookings!

[Panther88]

That was a very entertaining, competitive game. Immensely better than last evening's massacre in Brookings!

Saw that score on the ticker. *whistling*

Congrats to FAMU; they prevailed over our bison.

Also interesting watching the prez of the ncaa on the sidelines viewing everything about the CB. Doth we detect changes forthcoming on the fcs football landscape regarding the playoffs' crews?

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

That was a very entertaining, competitive game. Immensely better than last evening's massacre in Brookings!

Indeed! I only caught the second half and relative to all the FBS bowl junk some some of blowouts in the various NCAA playoff games it was a welcomed watch....

[Panther88]

41,108 announced attendance. Not bad. Not bad at all for a nat'l broadcast going head-to-head in ratings and airtime vs the larger and better funded G5/P5 folk.

[CHIP72]

41,108 announced attendance. Not bad. Not bad at all for a nat'l broadcast going head-to-head in ratings and airtime vs the larger and better funded G5/P5 folk.

The real TV ratings winner today will be the three NFL games.

[Panther88]

The real TV ratings winner today will be the three NFL games.

Oh my!!!! The nfl had games today?! 😱 I despise and never follow the no fun league so I'm always unaware.

[NY Crusader 2010]

VP Harris was in the house with her husband supporting her alma mater.

Good to see the SWAC break the curse. And its also great to see Howard contending for HBCU national titles. Tremendous season for the Bison!

[ASU33]

Kentucky and North Carolina were playing at State Farm arena right after the Celebration Bowl and their fans were blown away by the amount of fanfare surrounding the game. The Omni and the surrounding areas were packed with FAMU, Howard, and HBCU fans/grads. I talked to a few UK fans who were blown away at the folks who showed up for FCS football.

[NY Crusader 2010]

Kentucky and North Carolina were playing at State Farm arena right after the Celebration Bowl and their fans were blown away by the amount of fanfare surrounding the game. The Omni and the surrounding areas were packed with FAMU, Howard, and HBCU fans/grads. I talked to a few UK fans who were blown away at the folks who showed up for FCS football.

Really cool. Celebration Bowl followed by UNC-Kentucky? That's one hell of a sports-mageddon doubleheader.

Celebration Bowl, Lehigh-Lafayette and Harvard-Yale on my FCS bucket list of events to attend.

[DFW HOYA]

A reference to the Celebration Bowl from the Dallas Morning News on the Texas state high school football championship games:

"Duncanville-Galena Park North Shore...drew the largest crowd on Saturday with 40,673 fans watching Duncanville repeat as Class 6A Division I state champion. Last year’s dramatic [final] was watched by 40,056 fans. The anticipated rematch nearly attracted as many fans as the Celebration Bowl between Florida A&M and Howard, which had an attendance number of 41,108 on Saturday. In 2019, the Duncanville-North Shore championship game drew 47,818. Earlier that day 33,913 fans showed up for South Oak Cliff’s Class 5A Division II state title rematch against Port Neches-Groves. Last year, that game drew 32,098 fans."

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

VP Harris was in the house with her husband supporting her alma mater.

Good to see the SWAC break the curse. And its also great to see Howard contending for HBCU national titles. Tremendous season for the Bison!

Oh joy.

[Professor]

Kentucky and North Carolina were playing at State Farm arena right after the Celebration Bowl and their fans were blown away by the amount of fanfare surrounding the game. The Omni and the surrounding areas were packed with FAMU, Howard, and HBCU fans/grads. I talked to a few UK fans who were blown away at the folks who showed up for FCS football.

It was a madhouse leaving the Celebration Bowl and the UNC and UK fans coming in to the area. Atlanta made plenty of money this weekend