Celebration Bowl 2026: Sat., Dec. 12 at Noon ET on ABC in Atlanta

The 2026 Cricket Celebration Bowl is Saturday, Dec. 12, at noon ET on ABC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, according to the ESPN Events bowl schedule announced June 3, 2026. It is the 11th edition of the game between historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU). Below: kickoff in every U.S. time zone, the dates that lead to it, all 10 results since 2015 and a one-page game-day sheet.

Neither team is set. The matchup is the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champion against the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) champion, and as of Nov. 13 neither title has been decided. The full bowl slate is in our college football bowl schedule for 2026-27.

Celebration Bowl 2026 kickoff, channel and stadium

Item	Detail	Source
Date	Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026	Bowl website, ESPN Press Room
Kickoff	Noon ET	Bowl website, ESPN Press Room
TV	ABC	ESPN Press Room
Stadium	Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta	Bowl website, ESPN Press Room
Edition	11th, as ESPN Events counts it	ESPN Press Room

ESPN’s release says the bowl season begins with this game.

What time is the Celebration Bowl in each U.S. time zone?

The bowl’s website gives 12:00 p.m. ET. The other zones are our conversion for the same Saturday.

Zone	Celebration Bowl, Dec. 12	SWAC title game, Dec. 5
Eastern (ET)	12 p.m.	2 p.m.
Central (CT)	11 a.m.	1 p.m.
Mountain (MT)	10 a.m.	12 p.m.
Pacific (PT)	9 a.m.	11 a.m.

Which dates lead to the Celebration Bowl?

Date	What happens	Source
Sat., Nov. 21	Last MEAC regular-season Saturday	FBSchedules
Sat., Dec. 5	SWAC Championship Game, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN2	HBCU Sports, HBCU Gameday
Sat., Dec. 12	Celebration Bowl, noon ET, ABC	Bowl website, ESPN Press Room

Delaware State athletics, which carried the MEAC’s announcement on Aug. 5, wrote that the 2026 MEAC television slate “concludes with the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Saturday, December 12.” FBSchedules lists Nov. 21 as the last regular-season Saturday on that slate.

The SWAC time comes from two newsrooms. HBCU Sports reported on May 12 that the title game’s kickoff is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN2 on Saturday, Dec. 5, and HBCU Gameday reported on May 27 that it airs live on ESPN2 on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. EST. The conference’s own TV announcement of June 3 says kickoff times “will be released at a later date,” so the SWAC has not posted the time itself. The title game’s venue is not yet announced. Our conference championship games story covers the other title games that weekend.

Celebration Bowl results since 2015

The bowl’s history page lists 10 games. It has no entry for 2020.

Year	Winner	Runner-up
2015	North Carolina A&T 41	Alcorn State 34
2016	Grambling State 10	North Carolina Central 9
2017	North Carolina A&T 21	Grambling State 14
2018	North Carolina A&T 24	Alcorn State 22
2019	North Carolina A&T 64	Alcorn State 44
2020	no game listed	no game listed
2021	South Carolina State 31	Jackson State 10
2022	North Carolina Central 41	Jackson State 34
2023	Florida A&M 30	Howard 26
2024	Jackson State 28	South Carolina State 7
2025	South Carolina State 40	Prairie View A&M 38 (4OT)

Counting those rows, here is each team’s record in the game:

Team	Wins	Losses	Years won
North Carolina A&T	4	0	2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
South Carolina State	2	1	2021, 2025
Jackson State	1	2	2024
North Carolina Central	1	1	2022
Grambling State	1	1	2016
Florida A&M	1	0	2023
Alcorn State	0	3	none
Howard	0	1	none
Prairie View A&M	0	1	none

North Carolina A&T won each of its four games and Alcorn State lost each of its three. The closest games were 10-9 in 2016 and 40-38 in four overtimes in 2025.

Who plays in the 2026 Celebration Bowl?

Not decided. The bowl pairs the MEAC champion with the SWAC champion, and neither conference had named its champion as of Nov. 13. This story lists no team as clinched.

Celebration Bowl tickets and the fan experience

The bowl’s ticket page links to tickets, suites, groups and parking, and notes that ticket promotions apply to online orders only. It lists no prices.

Its Know Before You Go page puts the Coca-Cola Fan Experience at the Georgia World Congress Center Hall A, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on game day. Kickoff is noon ET, so the fan experience ends 30 minutes before it. The December 2026 printable calendar and the printable weekly calendar have room for both dates.

Is there a printable Celebration Bowl game-day sheet?

Yes. The one-page sheet shows the Dec. 5 SWAC title game and the Dec. 12 kickoff on ABC in all four U.S. time zones, with a pick column and a box for each team once they are known. Times can change; check ESPN on game day.