(Stats Perform) - The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference is calling an audible with its first championship game.

A day after the conference received an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs in the spring, MEAC commissioner Dr. Dennis Thomas said on Wednesday the championship game will be moved up by two weeks to the weekend of April 17.

The nine-team MEAC, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, will be split into two divisions for a six-game spring schedule, which the conference said last month would be held over nine weeks from Feb. 27 to April 24. Considering the playoffs are set to begin April 24, the MEAC regular season will conclude April 10.

The MEAC championship game will be played at the higher-seeded team. Out of an abundance of caution surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the matchup would likely be moved to a neutral site in North Carolina if flights are needed for the visiting team.

Delaware State, Howard, Morgan State and Norfolk State will play in the Northern Division and Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M, defending conference champion North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central and South Carolina State will be in a loaded Southern Division.