Get to Know a College Basketball Mid-Major: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
#MEAC #mid-major #HBCU #March Madness #automatic bid #Howard #Norfolk State #conference tournament
📌 Key Takeaways
- The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a mid-major Division I conference composed of eight HBCUs in the southeastern and mid-Atlantic U.S.
- The MEAC tournament format differs for men's and women's basketball, with seven men's teams and eight women's teams eligible due to Coppin State's academic penalties on the men's side.
- The conference's automatic bid to March Madness is the only path for its teams, with Howard and Norfolk State being recent champions in men's and women's basketball respectively.
- Howard leads the men's standings with a 10-3 conference record and a strong 20-10 overall record, positioning it as a top contender for the tournament.
📖 Full Retelling
You know all about the Power 5 conferences in college basketball. You hear about those more than any other, and those groups often dominate the March Madness conversation. There are 26 other conferences out there, however, and our goal is to get you up to speed on the teams, players and fights in the standings to know before the conference tournaments, Selection Sunday and the official start of March Madness. It’s time for you to get to know a mid-major: this time, it’s the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, or MEAC, was founded in 1970 as a Division II conference. Its members are in the southeastern and mid-atlantic United States, and are HBCUs. Its eight members are located in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It has had members move in and out of the conference throughout its existence, but has not added any new school since Savannah State in 2011 — that school went to Division II in 2017. The format for the tournament is different for men’s and women’s basketball, as Coppin State is not eligible for the men’s tournament due to academic penalties. The women’s team, however, qualifies — that means the men’s tournament will include seven teams, and the women’s the full eight members. The conference’s automatic bid, awarded to the MEAC tournament champion, will be the only way for one of these teams from either men’s or women’s basketball to participate in March Madness. Howard has won the men’s auto bid in two of the last three seasons, with Norfolk State grabbing it in 2025, while Norfolk State has come away with the lone MEAC bid in each of the last three seasons for the women’s side. MEAC — Men’s College Basketball Leaders: Howard is first in the conference at 10-3, which does not put it that far ahead of the teams directly behind it in the standings. However, as far as overall record goes, Howard is well in front: it’s 20-10 overall, with the next-best such record Norfolk State’s 15-15. Morgan St
🏷️ Themes
College Basketball, Mid-Major Conferences, HBCUs
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- No Data Available - BROWSE BY SPORTS & TEAMS PLAYERS SHOWS PERSONALITIES TOPICS Built on College Basketball College Basketball Get to Know a College Basketball Mid-Major: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Updated Mar. 5, 2026 4:34 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link You know all about the Power 5 conferences in college basketball. You hear about those more than any other, and those groups often dominate the March Madness conversation. There are 26 other conferences out there, however, and our goal is to get you up to speed on the teams, players and fights in the standings to know before the conference tournaments, Selection Sunday and the official start of March Madness. It’s time for you to get to know a mid-major: this time, it’s the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, or MEAC, was founded in 1970 as a Division II conference. Its members are in the southeastern and mid-atlantic United States, and are HBCUs. Its eight members are located in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It has had members move in and out of the conference throughout its existence, but has not added any new school since Savannah State in 2011 — that school went to Division II in 2017. The format for the tournament is different for men’s and women’s basketball, as Coppin State is not eligible for the men’s tournament due to academic penalties. The women’s team, however, qualifies — that means the men’s tournament will include seven teams, and the women’s the full eight members. The conference’s automatic bid, awarded to the MEAC tournament champion, will be the only way for one of these teams from either men’s or women’s basketball to participate in March Madness. Howard has won the men’s auto bid in two of the last three seasons, with Norfolk State grabbing it in 2025, while Norfolk State has come away with the lone MEAC bid in each of the last three seasons for the women’s side. MEAC — Men’s College Basketball Leaders: Points Per...
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