This article was originally published on www.si.com as South Carolina State Wins Celebration Bowl on One of the Closest Calls You’ll Ever See. Bowl season is officially underway. If Saturday’s Celebration Bowl between South Carolina State and Prairie View A&M is any indication, college football fans are in for a treat the rest of the way.

South Carolina State pulled out an improbable win to seize the Cricket Celebration bowl in a 40-38 game over Prairie View A&M.

Ryan Stubblefield found Jordan Smith on a 2-point pass in the fourth overtime, and South Carolina State defeated Prairie View A&M, 40-38, on Saturday in the 10th Celebration Bowl, the matchup between the champions of the MEAC and SWAC.

The South Carolina State Bulldogs are the 2025 HBCU Division I football national champions after erasing a 21-point deficit to defeat Prairie View A&M, 40-38, in four overtimes Saturday at the 10th annual Cricket Celebration Bowl inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

South Carolina State’s Tyler Smith caught a pass and — according to the referees — got a sliver of the football over a pylon at the goal line for a 2-point play to defeat Prairie View A&M 40-38 in a wild back-and-forth affair at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The de facto national champion of HBCU football will be crowned on Saturday when the South Carolina State Bulldogs (9-3) take on the Prairie View A&M Panthers (10-3) in the annual Celebration Bowl between the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwestern Athletic Conference at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.