The Mighty MEAC

2020 was a rough year for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as North Carolina A&T, Florida A&M, and Bethune-Cookman announced that they would be leaving the conference. Many wrote off the conference after these moves and felt like the conference was all but done. With only six football playing schools remaining it was a forgone conclusion that the SWAC would now be the premier Division 1 HBCU football conference. There's no question that the SWAC draws larger crowds, garners plenty of media attention, but the MEAC has been better on the field.

The New Look MEAC

In 2021 the MEAC returned to the field and immediately made a statement with North Carolina Central upsetting Alcorn State. The Braves didn't play a Spring season, but were SWAC Champions in 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2019. The MEAC would strike again in the season finale with South Carolina State taking 15th ranked Jackson State to the woodshed 31-10 in the Celebration Bowl. The 2021 season was supposed to be the coronation of the SWAC as the dominant D1 HBCU Conference but the boys from the MEAC had other plans. In 2022 the SWAC got off on a strong foot with Alabama State defeating Howard to open the season and it seemed that the balance of power had maybe shifted south. The MEAC bounced back again in the Celebration Bowl with North Carolina Central defeating Jackson State 41-34 in a thrilling overtime contest. The Eagles finished the year 10-2 and ranked 17th nationally which would be the 10th time in 11 years that the MEAC would finish with at least 1 team ranked in the top 20.

The MEAC Today

The MEAC is coming off of a 2023 season in which the conference was defeated by the SWAC in both the MEAC/SWAC Challenge and The Celebration Bowl for the first time ever. Norfolk State will have the first opportunity to right the MEAC ship as they are scheduled to square off against defending SWAC Champion Florida A&M in the 2024 MEAC/SWAC Challenge. The Spartans are lead by Head Coach Dawson Odoms who is entering year 4 at Norfolk State. The Spartans bring back a host of talent from a team that finished 3-8 but 4 of those losses were by 6 points or less. North Carolina Central enters the post Davious Richard era under Trei Oliver with a huge Labor Day Weekend game in the Orange Blossom Classic against Alabama State who many believe is the dark horse in the SWAC. Morgan State boasts one of the best defensive teams in the conference under Head Coach Damon Wilson. If the Bears can improve on the offensive side of the football they'll immediately become a serious title contender. Chennis Berry immediately invokes a lot of hope and promise into South Carolina State who struggled since winning the Celebration Bowl in 2021. Deleware State struggled in year 1 under Lee Hull but played Howard and Norfolk State within 7 points. Defending Champion Howard brings back a great deal of talent from a team that pushed that was within 5 points of winning a Celebration Bowl.