(STATS) - There's an awkward factor to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title race, but it may still have a smooth ending.

Florida A&M (6-1) has a 4-0 record against MEAC opponents, including key wins over contenders South Carolina State and North Carolina A&T the last two weeks.

However, the 20th-ranked Rattlers are serving NCAA penalties for a subpar Academic Progress Rate and are ineligible for the conference title and the automatic bid to the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl.

That gives Bethune-Cookman (6-1) sole possession of first place at 4-0, with No. 18 North Carolina A&T and South Carolina State - both 4-2 - tied for second place with 2-1 conference records.

All three of those teams still have to play each other, with Bethune hosting SCSU on Saturday and traveling to N.C. A&T on Nov. 16, and SCSU hosting N.C. A&T on Nov. 2, so the likely scenario is one of those three teams will be the MEAC's Celebration Bowl representative. If any of the three teams wins the remainder of its conference games, it would be guaranteed the bid because it could be an outright MEAC champion or at the least would win on a conference tiebreaker - the first being head-to-head results.

Bethune and Florida A&M also will face off in Orlando on the final day of the regular season, Nov. 23. Regardless of its record, FAMU will not be included in conference tiebreaker scenarios.

The other MEAC five programs have two or more conference losses and need plenty of help moving forward in the title race. The Celebration Bowl, which pits the MEAC champ against the Southwestern Athletic Conference champ, will be held Dec. 21 in Atlanta.