Celebration Bowl Betting Odds: Just Who Will Be Suiting Up for Post-Deion Jackson State Team?

Jackson State Going After Lucky Win No. 13

Jackson State is 60 minutes away from a perfect NCAAF season when the Tigers play the North Carolina Central Eagles. The Celebration Bowl betting odds favor the undefeated Tigers. The biggest question is how many of the Jackson State squad will join former head coach Deion Sanders in Colorado now that he has been named the head coach at the University of Colorado.

Jackson State is making its second straight appearance in the Celebration Bowl, which matched the champion of the SWAC against MEAC champ North Carolina Central.

NC Central features both the offensive player of the year (quarterback Davius Richard) and defensive player of the year (defensive back Khalil Baker) in the MEAC. The Eagles will be tested by the No. 1 defense at the Football Championship Subdivision level.

Jackson State is ranked fifth in the FCS Coaches’ poll with NC Central coming in at No. 21.

Game Information

Is Another Celebration Bowl Headed to Another Lopsided Result?

The last two Celebration Bowls were decided by 20 and 21 points and the star-studded Jackson State team is currently favored by 16.5 points according to the Celebration Bowl betting odds.

Jackson State has won back-to-back SWAC titles for the first time since the 1995 and 1996 seasons. The college football picks and parlays are calling for the Tigers to finish the season with a perfect 13–0 mark.

The Tigers won each of their last five games by double digits while North Carolina Central needed a field goal as time expired to edge Tennessee Tech 22-20. It is the first Celebration Bowl for the Eagles since losing to Grambling 10-9 in the 2016 game.

Hitting the Ground Running

Latrell Collier had yet another productive game in the MEAC championship game with 130 rushing yards and the ability to run the ball will be key against a stingy Jackson State defense. The Tigers had the ball for 33 out of the 60 minutes in the first 11 games of the season and controlling the ball to keep Jackson State’s offense on the sidelined will be crucial for a college football team listed by the Celebration Bowl betting odds as a heavy underdog to pull off the upset.

It has been a pretty impressive one-year jump as NC Central was outscored 268-287 a season ago.

The defense is led by Jaki Bernard as he has 9.5 tackles for loss and three sacks while Khalil Baker has four interceptions.

Trei Oliver hasn’t received anywhere near the attention as a head coach as Jackson State’s Sanders. However, he returned to his alma mater and by year 4 had North Carolina Central celebrating as MEAC champions.

Eyeing Perfection

While Jackson State is garnering the most attention with quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who will be joining his father Deion at the University of Colorado, the dominating defense is why Jackson State is undefeated and why the Celebration Bowl betting odds favor the Tigers.

The defense has allowed one offensive touchdown or less in eight of the 12 games. In the first 11 minutes of the SWAC title game, the Tigers forced three turnovers and had a pair of sacks.

Jackson State’s first two touchdowns were scored after the defense gave the ball to the offense on the 1 and 14 yard lines. They have 48 sacks, 13 interceptions and 11 fumble recoveries.

Tigers Ready to Celebrate

Deion Sanders made it clear that he plans on bringing some of his players with him as he takes over a Colorado program that is coming off a 1-11 season and that makes this a hard game to project simply because the available players for favored Jackson State might change multiple times between now and kickoff.

NC Central scored more than 46 times during the regular season and will look to test Jackson State’s dominating defense. The Celebration Bowl predictions are calling for the Tigers to be the one celebrating at the end of the Celebration Bowl.

Both programs are 0-1 in the Celebration Bowl so a first-time champion will be crowned in what is considered the championship game. The MEAC has won five of the six Celebration Bowls, but SWAC champion Jackson State is a double-digit favorite in this one with the total currently at 56.

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