Andscape roundtable: Celebration Bowl, Band of the Year will feature familiar faces

Published on December 12, 2024

New champions will be crowned this week in Atlanta. 

On Friday night, the Band of the Year national championship will take place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The reigning Division I champion, North Carolina A&T Blue and Gold Marching Machine, will go head-to-head with Florida A&M Marching 100. In the Division II competition, the Miles College Purple Marching Machine will face off against Virginia State Trojan Explosion, the 2023 Band of the Year Division II runner-up.

On Saturday, the 2024 Cricket Celebration Bowl will be played in the stadium. Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Jackson State will look to avenge its 0-2 record in the bowl game, and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion South Carolina State will seek its second Celebration Bowl victory. The matchup will be a rematch of the 2021 Celebration Bowl, in which South Carolina State defeated Jackson State 31-10.