2025 Celebration Bowl Prediction: South Carolina State vs Prairie View A&M
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The Cricket Celebration Bowl has become a fun annual kickoff to the bowl season.
Since its start in 2015, it’s brought great energy, the best halftime show, and plenty of terrific games. It shot up like a rocket in 2021 when Deion Sanders, Shedeur Sanders, and Travis Hunter came in with Jackson State, and let with a 31-10 loss to South Carolina State.
The 41-34 Jackson State overtime loss to North Carolina Central was a fantastic game, Florida A&M’s 30-26 win over Howard in 2023 was one of the better bowls of the season, and …
Jackson State had no problems with South Carolina State last year in a 28-7 win. The Bulldogs are back, but the Tigers aren’t.
This is the first Celebration Bowl appearance for Prairie View A&M, coming in thanks to a slightly-stunning 23-21 win over Jackson State. This is South Carolina State’s third trop to Atlanta in the last five years.
Cricket Celebration Bowl South Carolina State vs Prairie View A&M Preview
How To Watch South Carolina State vs Prairie View A&M
Date: Saturday, December 13, 2025
Game Time: 12:00 pm ET
TV: ABC
Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
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Why South Carolina State Will Win
Both teams bring a vicious defense. South Carolina State brings a bit more offense.
Points will come at a premium in this. Who blinks first, who makes the biggest mistakes, and who can come up with that extra first down?
The Bulldogs have more ways to keep the chains moving, and they’re just a little bit better at controlling the clock and the tempo.
How do you beat this team? You have to keep up the pace, because if you give this D a little bit of a lead to work with, it’ll unleash the pass rush and big plays in the backfield and start killing drives fast.
You have to force takeaways. Losing to South Carolina and USF is one thing for an FCS program, but how did Charleston Southern get past the Bulldogs? Three key takeaways, and way too many SCSU penalties. So …
Why Prairie View A&M Will Win
The Panthers have to attack from the start.
Quarterback Cameron Peters has to take a few deep shots early. Something has to open up against the Bulldog defense, and it works the other way around, too. The Panthers stuffed Jackson State’s ground game to a crawl.
It’s okay to count on the defense to hold up, and to clean up any messes.
Again, South Carolina State has the slightly more dangerous pass rush, but Prairie View A&M has the offensive line, and the style, to do a stronger job in pass protection.
And then there’s the biggest X factor – field position. Neither team will move the ball with ease, and Prairie View A&M has the slightly better punter in Elliot Janish – he has a bit more blast. And …
South Carolina State vs Prairie View A&M Prediction, Betting Lines
Who can hit field goals?
It’s not like either offense can’t score on the other, but it’ll take a mistake, and big play, or a big misfire somewhere to break through these two killer Ds.
South Carolina State’s senior Nico Cavanillas Alti hit 14-of-18 field goals. Prairie View A&M’s Aiden Webb doesn’t have the same range of consistency.
South Carolina State 23, Prairie View A&M 17
Line: No official line, but we’re guessing this will come in around South Carolina State -4.5 and a total of around 43.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: COMING
Must See Rating: 4
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Consensus Line from BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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This story was originally published by College Football News on Dec 10, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add College Football News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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