The Florida Classic in Orlando is always a high-stakes battle for bragging rights. But this year, the match-up will also decide the conference championship.Bethune-Cookman clinched a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) title as the tenth-ranked Wildcats held off Howard University 35-20 before a Senior Day crowd of 5,431 at Municipal Stadium Saturday.
The tenth-ranked Wildcats improved to 10-0 (7-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) for the first time in school history and set the stage for the Florida Classic next week against Florida A&M, who is still in the hunt for a piece of the MEAC crown.
B-CU's last conference championship was in 2002. If South Carolina State beats North Carolina A&T next weekend, the Wildcats would earn the MEAC's FCS automatic playoff berth by virtue of the conference tiebreaker regardless of the outcome of the FAMU game.
"We still want to win outright," B-CU linebacker Reggie Sandilands said.
"My mind has already flipped to playing Florida A&M," B-CU coach Brian Jenkins said on Saturday. "We're going back to office tonight and get ready to grind it out."
The Wildcats are looking for revenge after taking a 42-6 stomping from the Rattlers last year. Bethune-Cookman announced its decision to fire Coach Alvin “Shine” Wyatt just days after the embarassing loss.