Courtesy of the CIAA
Charlotte, NC – With week 9 of football in the rearview and a pivotal week 10 on the horizon, one team in the conference has solidified a spot in the 2024 CIAA Football Championship (Nov. 16th – Salem, VA) with others in tight contention. As it stands, Virginia Union University, Johnson C Smith University & Virginia State University sit in first, second and third place respectively. Regardless of how Week 10 plays out, VUU has already earned a spot in the CIAA Championship, however, final seedings and regular season champions are yet to be finalized.
Lets take a look below at the possible week 10 scenarios:
1. If VUU wins & JCSU wins: Both teams would advance to the Championship. At 7-0, Virginia Union would win the regular season and be the #1 seed in the Championship. At 6-1, Johnson C Smith would earn the #2 seed. Note, with the adjusted 7-game conference schedule, the VUU vs. JCSU game that took place on September 21st was denoted a conference game for JCSU only and not VUU.
Championship Game: #1 VUU (7-0) vs. #2 JCSU (6-1)
2. If VUU wins, JCSU loses & WSSU wins: At 7-0, VUU would win the regular season and be the #1 seed in the Championship. JCSU, VSU & WSSU would be tied at 5-2, however, JCSU would advance as determined by head-to-head against both VSU & WSSU.
Championship Game: #1 VUU (7-0) vs. #2 JCSU (5-2)
3. If VUU loses & JCSU loses: VSU & VUU will both advance to the Championship. With both teams at 6-1, they would be co-champions of the regular season and Virginia State would be the #1 seed in the Championship as determined by head-to-head.
Championship Game: #1 VSU (6-1) vs. #2 VUU (6-1)
4. If VUU loses & JCSU wins: VSU, VUU & JCSU would be co-champions of the regular season, however, this creates a 3-way tie for Championship consideration. To determine who moves on to the Championship, the first tiebreaker is winning percentage within the 7-game conference schedule, with each team at 6-1, all would be tied. The next tiebreaker is head-to-head competition, also, within the 7-game conference schedule. In this case, because VSU, VUU & JCSU did not all compete head-to-head within the 7-game conference schedule, head-to-head competition cannot be considered. The next tie breaker is point differential against common opponents. VSU, VUU & JCSU only had one common opponent, Bluefield State. At +91, VUU would move on to the Championship. VSU & JCSU remain tied +39. With only VSU & JCSU in contention for the final Championship spot, the tie breaker procedures reset between the two teams. The first tiebreaker, conference winning percentage, would remain tied. However, the second tiebreaker, head-to-head favors JCSU. JCSU would move on to the Championship as the #2 seed.
Championship Game: #1 VUU (6-1) vs. #2 JCSU (6-1)