- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
-
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
(MEAC)
Established 1970 Association NCAA Division Division I FCS Members 12 [A] Sports fielded 15 (men's: 7; women's: 8) Region South Atlantic Headquarters Norfolk, Virginia Commissioner Dennis E. Thomas (since 2002) Website www.meacsports.com Locations 
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, and in football, in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Currently, the MEAC has automatic qualifying bids for NCAA postseason play in baseball (since 1994), men’s basketball (since 1981), women’s basketball (since 1982), football (since 1996), softball (since 1995), men and women’s tennis (since 1998), and volleyball (since 1994). Bowling was officially sanctioned as a MEAC governed sport in 1999. Before that season, the MEAC was the first conference to secure NCAA sanctioning for women’s bowling by adopting the club sport prior to the 1996-97 school year.
Contents
History
In 1969, a group, whose members were long associated with interscholastic athletics, met in Durham, North Carolina with the purpose of discussing the organization of a new conference. After the formulation of a committee, and their research reported, seven institutions: Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State College agreed to become the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.[1] The conference's main goals were to establish and supervise an intercollegiate athletic program among a group of educational institutions that shared the same academic standards and philosophy of co-curricular activities and seek status as a Division I conference for all of its sports.
The conference was confirmed in 1970, and had its first season of competition in football in 1971. The MEAC has had to date, three full-time commissioners.[1] In 1978, the MEAC selected its first full-time commissioner, Kenneth A. Free, who served as Commissioner until he resigned in 1995. He was succeeded by Charles S. Harris, who served at the position until 2002. On September 1, 2002, Dennis E. Thomas became the conference’s commissioner.
The MEAC experienced its first expansion in 1979 when Bethune–Cookman College (Now Bethune–Cookman University) and Florida A&M University were admitted as new members. That same year, founding members Morgan State University, North Carolina Central University and University of Maryland Eastern Shore withdrew from the conference. All three schools eventually returned to the conference; Maryland Eastern Shore rejoined in 1981, Morgan State in 1984, and North Carolina Central in 2010.
On June 8, 1980, the MEAC was classified as a Division I conference by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Prior to that year, the league operated as a Division II conference. The following month the MEAC received an automatic qualification to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
In 1984, membership in the MEAC again changed as Florida A&M chose to leave. The university would return to the conference two years later. Coppin State College, now Coppin State University, joined the conference in 1985. The MEAC would find stability in membership with the addition of two HBCUs in Virginia, Hampton University and Norfolk State University in 1995 and 1997 respectively. For the next 10 years, the MEAC would remain an 11 member conference. In 2007, former CIAA member Winston-Salem State University was granted membership, but announced on September 11, 2009 that it would return to Division II at the end of 2009-2010 and apply to return to the CIAA.[2]
North Carolina Central University rejoined the conference effective July 1, 2010.[3][4] NCCU was one of seven founding member institutions of the MEAC, but withdrew from the conference in 1979, opting to remain a Division II member when the conference reclassified to Division I.[3]
Savannah State University was announced as the newest member of the MEAC on March 10, 2010.[4] Savannah State will be granted full membership status once they have satisfied certain scholarship, staffing, and budget requirements mandated by the MEAC.[4] Savannah State originally applied for membership into the MEAC in 2006 but faced an NCAA probationary period soon after. Membership was then deferred until the completion of the imposed probation period, which ended in May 2009. Savannah State then resubmitted their application for membership again in 2009 and was finally granted probationary membership status.[4]
Membership
Current members
Membership in the MEAC has fluctuated through the years, but now stands at twelve schools.[5] Savannah State will become the thirteenth member when granted full membership status.[4]
Institution Nickname Location Founded Type Enrollment Tenure NCAA Championships Bethune–Cookman Wildcats Daytona Beach, Florida 1904 Private 3,614 [6] 1979–present Coppin State Eagles Baltimore, Maryland 1900 Public 3,801 [7] 1985–present Delaware State Hornets Dover, Delaware 1891 Public 3,609 [8] 1970–present Florida A&M Rattlers Tallahassee, Florida 1887 Public 12,274[9] 1979–1984,
1986–present1 (1978) Hampton Pirates Hampton, Virginia 1868 Private 5,402 [10] 1995–present Howard Bison Washington, D.C. 1867 Private 10,573 [11] 1970–present 2 (1971[B], 1974) Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks Princess Anne, Maryland 1886 Public 4,433 [12] 1970–1979,
1981–present2 (2008, 2011)[13] Morgan State Bears Baltimore, Maryland 1867 Public 7,226 [14] 1970–1979,
1984–presentNorfolk State Spartans Norfolk, Virginia 1935 Public 6,993 [15] 1997–present North Carolina A&T Aggies Greensboro, North Carolina 1891 Public 10,614 [16] 1970–present North Carolina Central Eagles Durham, North Carolina 1910 Public 8,587 [17] 1970–1979,
2010–present1 (1989) Savannah State University [C] Tigers Savannah, Georgia 1890 Public 3,820 [18] 2010–present South Carolina State Bulldogs Orangeburg, South Carolina 1896 Public 4,538 [19] 1970–present Membership timeline
Former members
Institution Years New Conference Winston-Salem State University 2007-2010 CIAA Conference facilities
School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity Bethune–Cookman Municipal Stadium 10,000 Moore Gymnasium 3,000 Coppin State Non-football school – Physical Education Complex 4,100 Delaware State Alumni Stadium 7,000 Memorial Hall 3,000 Florida A&M Bragg Memorial Stadium 25,500 Alfred Lawson, Jr. Multipurpose Center Teaching Gym 9,600 Hampton University Armstrong Stadium 17,000 Hampton Convocation Center 7,200 Howard University William H. Greene Stadium 10,000 Burr Gymnasium 2,700 Maryland Eastern Shore Non-football school – Hytche Athletic Center 5,500 Morgan State Hughes Stadium 10,000 Talmadge L. Hill Field House 4,250 Norfolk State William "Dick" Price Stadium 30,000 Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall 7,000 North Carolina A&T Aggie Stadium 22,000 Corbett Sports Center 5,700 North Carolina Central O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium 10,000 McLendon–McDougald Gymnasium 3,050 Savannah State Ted Wright Stadium 7,500 Tiger Arena 6,000 South Carolina State Oliver C. Dawson Stadium 22,000 SHM Memorial Center 3,200 Sports
Member universities compete in the following sports:
Championships
Current Champions
Sport School Baseball Bethune-Cookman Basketball (W) Hampton Basketball (M) Hampton Bowling Maryland Eastern Shore Cross Country (W) Maryland Eastern Shore Cross Country (M) Norfolk State Sport School Football Bethune-Cookman[D]
South Carolina State
Florida A&MIndoor Track & Field (W) Norfolk State Indoor Track & Field (M) Norfolk State Outdoor Track & Field (W) Hampton Outdoor Track & Field (M) Norfolk State Sport School Softball Bethune-Cookman Tennis (W) South Carolina State Tennis (M) South Carolina State Volleyball South Carolina State Football
Season Champion(s) 1971 Morgan State 1972 North Carolina Central 1973 North Carolina Central 1974 South Carolina State 1975 South Carolina State 1976 South Carolina State 1977 South Carolina State 1978 South Carolina State 1979 Morgan State 1980 South Carolina State 1981 South Carolina State 1982 South Carolina State 1983 South Carolina State 1984 Bethune-Cookman 1985 Delaware State 1986 North Carolina A&T State 1987 Howard 1988 Bethune-Cookman
Delaware State
Florida A&M1989 Delaware State 1990 Florida A&M 1991 North Carolina A&T State 1992 North Carolina A&T State 1993 Howard 1994 South Carolina State 1995 Florida A&M 1996 Florida A&M 1997 Hampton 1998 Florida A&M
Hampton1999 North Carolina A&T State 2000 Florida A&M 2001 Florida A&M 2002 Bethune-Cookman 2003 North Carolina A&T State 2004 Hampton
South Carolina State2005 Hampton 2006 Hampton 2007 Delaware State 2008 South Carolina State 2009 South Carolina State 2010 Bethune-Cookman*
South Carolina State*
Florida A&M2011 *Selected to the 2010 NCAA Division I Football Championship Playoffs.
Men's basketball
See also: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball TournamentOn June 8, 1980, the MEAC earned the classification as a Division I conference by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 1981, the MEAC has received an qualifying bid to for NCAA post season play in the sport of basketball. In two cases, MEAC schools seeded 15th (Coppin State in 1997, Hampton in 2001) defeated second-seeded teams in the NCAA tournament.
Season Regular season champion(s) Tournament champion 1972 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 1973 Maryland Eastern Shore North Carolina A&T State 1974 Maryland Eastern Shore Maryland Eastern Shore 1975 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 1976 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 1977 South Carolina State Morgan State 1978 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 1979 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 1980 Howard Howard 1981 North Carolina A&T State Howard 1982 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 1983 Howard North Carolina A&T State 1984 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 1985 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 1986 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 1987 Howard North Carolina A&T State 1988 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 1989 South Carolina State South Carolina State 1990 Coppin State Coppin State University 1991 Coppin State Florida A&M 1992 Howard Howard 1993 Coppin State Coppin State 1994 Coppin State North Carolina A&T State 1995 Coppin State North Carolina A&T State 1996 Coppin State
South Carolina StateSouth Carolina State 1997 Coppin State Coppin State 1998 Coppin State South Carolina State 1999 South Carolina State
Coppin StateFlorida A&M 2000 South Carolina State South Carolina State 2001 Hampton Hampton 2002 Hampton Hampton 2003 South Carolina State South Carolina State 2004 South Carolina State
Coppin StateFlorida A&M 2005 Delaware State Delaware State 2006 Delaware State Hampton 2007 Delaware State Florida A&M 2008 Morgan State Coppin State 2009 Morgan State Morgan State 2010 Morgan State Morgan State 2011 Bethune-Cookman Hampton 2012 Tournaments Performance by school
School Championships Championship Years North Carolina A&T State 15 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1995 South Carolina State 5 1989, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003 Coppin State 4 1990, 1993, 1997, 2008 Florida A&M 4 1991, 1994, 2004, 2007 Howard 3 1980, 1981, 1992 Hampton 4 2001, 2002, 2006, 2011 Morgan State 3 1977, 2009, 2010 Maryland-Eastern Shore 1 1974 Delaware State 1 2005 Women's basketball
Season Regular season champion(s) Tournament champion 1978 – South Carolina State 1979 – South Carolina State 1980 – – 1981 – – 1982 – Howard 1983 – South Carolina State 1984 South Carolina State Bethune-Cookman 1985 South Carolina State Howard 1986 South Carolina State South Carolina State 1987 Howard Howard 1988 North Carolina A&T State Howard 1989 North Carolina A&T State Howard 1990 North Carolina A&T State Howard 1991 South Carolina State Coppin State 1992 South Carolina State South Carolina State 1993 South Carolina State
Coppin State
Florida A&MSouth Carolina State 1994 South Carolina State North Carolina A&T State 1995 Florida A&M Florida A&M 1996 Florida A&M Howard 1997 Howard Howard 1998 Howard Howard 1999 Hampton Florida A&M 2000 Howard Hampton 2001 Howard Howard 2002 Howard Norfolk State 2003 Hampton Hampton 2004 Delaware State
HamptonHampton 2005 Coppin State Coppin State 2006 Coppin State Coppin State 2007 Coppin State Delaware State 2008 North Carolina A&T State Coppin State 2009 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 2010 North Carolina A&T State Hampton University 2011 Hampton Hampton 2012 Softball
Bethune-Cookman won the Florida Regional in 2005, the first NCAA Regional Final ever won by a MEAC school, and ended that season ranked #18 in a national poll.[20]
Season Champion(s) 1993 Florida A&M 1994 Florida A&M 1995 Florida A&M 1996 Hampton 1997 Florida A&M 1998 Florida A&M 1999 Florida A&M 2000 Bethune-Cookman 2001 Bethune-Cookman 2002 Bethune-Cookman 2003 Bethune-Cookman 2004 Bethune-Cookman 2005 Florida A&M 2006 Florida A&M 2007 Howard Baseball
Season Regular season champion(s) Tournament champion 1972 Howard 1973 South Carolina State 1974 North Carolina A&T 1975 Howard 1976 Howard 1977 Howard 1978 No Records Available 1979 No Records Available 1980 No Records Available 1981 No Records Available 1982 No Records Available 1983 No Records Available 1984 Howard 1985 Bethune-Cookman 1986 Howard 1987 Florida A&M 1988 Florida A&M 1989 Delaware State 1990 Florida A&M 1991 Florida A&M 1992 Florida A&M 1993 North Carolina A&T State 1994 Florida A&M 1995 Coppin State 1996 Bethune-Cookman 1997 Bethune-Cookman 1998 Howard 1999 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman 2000 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman 2001 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman 2002 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman 2003 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman 2004 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman 2005 North Carolina A&T State North Carolina A&T State 2006 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman 2007 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman 2008 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman 2009 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman 2010 Bethune-Cookman Bethune-Cookman African American topics ReligionBlack church
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CIAA · SIAC · MEAC · SWACDiasporaLiberia · Nova Scotia · France
Sierra LeoneCategory · Portal Notes
- A.^ Savannah State University will be granted full conference membership status once certain scholarship, staffing, and budget requirements mandated by the MEAC have been met. [4]
- B.^ Howard was later disqualified from their 1971 NCAA soccer championship, however, no team was ever announced as the new champion.
- C.^ Savannah State has been announced as a member of the conference, but will not be eligible for conference championships until granted full membership status once certain scholarship, staffing, and budget requirements mandated by the MEAC are met. [4]
- D.^ Bethune-Cookman receives, NCAA Division-I FCS Playoff Automatic Qualifying bid via MEAC Conference tiebreaker system.
References
- ^ a b MEAC History
- ^ "WSSU Decides To Stay In Division II Athletics". D2Football.com. digtriad.com. 2009-09-11. http://www.d2football.com/viewnews.php?id=10962. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
- ^ a b "North Carolina Central University joins Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference". Onnidan.com. 2009-09-10. http://www.onnidan.com/09-10/news/september/nccu-meac091009.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Savannah State University Joins Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference". Onnidan.com. 2010-03-10. http://www.meacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204905645&DB_OEM_ID=20800. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
- ^ "Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Official web site". meacsports.com. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. http://www.meacsports.com/. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/bethune-cookman-university-1467
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/coppin-state-university-2068
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/delaware-state-university-1428
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/florida-a-m-university-1480
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/hampton-university-3714
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/howard-university-1448
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-maryland-eastern-shore-2106
- ^ http://www.ncaa.com/news/bowling/2011-04-16/umes-takes-home-2011-crown
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/morgan-state-university-2083
- ^ http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/norfolk-state-university.htm
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/north-carolina-a-t-state-university-2905
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/north-carolina-central-university-2950
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/savannah-state-university-1590
- ^ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/south-carolina-state-university-3446
- ^ "MEAC History" (PDF). meacsports.com. http://www.meacsports.com/meac_history/meac_history.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-17.[dead link]
External links
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Bethune–Cookman Wildcats • Coppin State Eagles • Delaware State Hornets • Florida A&M Rattlers • Hampton Pirates • Howard Bison • Maryland–Eastern Shore Hawks • Morgan State Bears • Norfolk State Spartans • North Carolina A&T Aggies • North Carolina Central Eagles • Savannah State Tigers • South Carolina State Bulldogs
Categories:- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
- Sports in the Eastern United States
- Sports in the Southern United States
- Organizations established in 1970
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