Is Winning the Celebration Bowl Enough Anymore?
By: Otis Wright III
There are few moments in college football more meaningful than watching an HBCU team celebrate a championship. The pageantry. The bands. The pride. The history. It’s a reminder that HBCU football has always represented something bigger than wins and losses. But as the landscape of college football continues to evolve, I find myself asking a question that isn’t meant to diminish the Celebration Bowl- it’s meant to challenge how we define success.
Has the Celebration Bowl become the destination? Or should it simply be one stop on a much bigger journey? For years, HBCU football has measured greatness by conference championships and a trip to Atlanta. There’s nothing wrong with that. Those accomplishments deserve to be celebrated.
But should the conversation end there?
Should HBCU programs also aspire for national rankings, deeper postseason opportunities, greater NFL Draft representation, and a larger presence in the national college football conversation?
Because if the goal is to elevate HBCU football, then maybe it’s time to ask whether we’ve unintentionally placed a ceiling on what success can look like. If HBCU football is going to redefine success, then we first have to redefine what we’re measuring. Conference championships matter. The Celebration Bowl matters. Those traditions should never disappear. But should they be the finish line?
Over the past five NFL Drafts, only six HBCU players have heard their names called. I don’t believe that’s because HBCU football lacks talent. In fact, I think the transfer portal proves the opposite.
Year after year, we watch HBCU players transfer to Power Four programs and earn starting roles. That tells me the talent exists. It tells me these athletes can compete at the highest levels of college football.
So maybe this isn’t a talent issue. Maybe it’s an ambition issue.
Should HBCU programs view the FCS Playoffs as part of the goal instead of an alternative to it? Should we fight for more national recognition? More nationally televised games? More players drafted into the NFL? More opportunities to prove, on a national stage, that HBCU football belongs in every college football conversation?
The Celebration Bowl should always be a source of pride. But pride and ambition don’t have to compete with one another. One celebrates where HBCU football has been. The other challenges it to become everything it can be.
So where does HBCU football go from here? I believe it starts by challenging the people who shape its future. The Celebration Bowl has become one of the premier events in college football, and it deserves every bit of the respect it has earned. But familiarity can sometimes become a comfort zone.
If the goal is to elevate HBCU football, then we have to be willing to ask whether the current model is the best model for the future.
If HBCU leadership believes sending its top teams to the FCS Playoffs isn’t the right path, then create one that is. Why not expand the Celebration Bowl into a six-team HBCU playoff?
Give fans more meaningful football in December. Give more student-athletes the opportunity to compete on a bigger stage. Create more nationally relevant games. Strengthen media rights negotiations by delivering more postseason inventory. And most importantly, redefine what success looks like.
The Celebration Bowl should never lose its place in HBCU football. It should always be celebrated. It should always matter. But it should never become the ceiling of our ambition. Success shouldn’t be measured by whether an HBCU team simply wins a championship within its own circle.
Success should be measured by whether HBCU football continues to expand its influence, develop NFL talent, grow its national audience, and create opportunities that the next generation of student-athletes never imagined possible.
That’s not abandoning tradition.
That’s honoring it by believing HBCU football can become even bigger than it is today.