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It took nine weeks of the 2024 FCS college football season for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to get here.
After wading through five games against FBS opponents, six sub-FCS games and a slew of HBCU and FCS nonconference contests, it’s finally time for MEAC-tion!
For the final five weeks of the regular season, the six teams will essentially play a round robin tournament to determine the MEAC championship and who will represent the conference at the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 14 in Atlanta.
Regardless of what they have done during the nonconference portion of the schedule, every team has a chance to win the championship. They have a chance to hit the reset button on the season and chase a chip.
Before the chase takes over, let’s look at the landscape and discuss how these squads stack up to each other in the MEAC title race.
MEAC Pole Position: North Carolina Central 5-2 (1-0 Conference)
The Eagles are coming into full conference play sitting in the best position of the MEAC title race. They have the only conference win this season, 37-10 over Norfolk State on Sept. 28.
They also go into the first full MEAC weekend coming off a bye, so they will be well prepared for Morgan State.
It’s not just the Norfolk State win that makes NCCU the favorite to raise the trophy, it’s also having the most potent offense in the conference – the sixth-best scoring offense in the FCS via the balance of 183 passing yards and 182 rushing yards per game.
NCCU, ranked 20th in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll, also has played well defensively, ranking 17th in the FCS in total defense and in a tie for 28th in scoring defense.
The Eagles should be difficult to beat in conference, but many people believed that last season as well. They were 5-1 overall going into the MEAC schedule, ran off three wins, but then lost to Howard – a defeat that ultimately cost them the title and a trip to the Celebration Bowl.
They will be focused on finishing the job this year.
Chase Pack: Howard 3-4, South Carolina State 4-2, and Morgan State 3-4
These three teams have a legitimate chance to come out on top of the MEAC title race.
Howard was voted second to North Carolina Central in the MEAC’s preseason poll, but it surely can repeat as champion.
The Bison have had a better regular season this year than in 2023. They know what it takes to get hot during conference play: Last year, they were 2-4 and coming off a 48-7 beatdown by Harvard before going 4-1 in the MEAC, including a 30-point victory over NCCU and a nail-biting win over Morgan State to claim the title.
The MEAC title race could once again come down to Howard and Morgan State meeting at the end of the regular season on Nov. 23.
Howard’s only conference loss in 2023 came at the hands of South Carolina State, which was in the midst of legendary coach Buddy Pough’s final season. While that campaign was somewhat of a disappointing sendoff for the legend as SCSU finished 5-6, the Bulldogs sent Pough into retirement with a 44-17 victory at Norfolk State.
They’ve replaced Pough with Chennis Berry, who has been all around the HBCU landscape and was coming off an impressive run at Division II Benedict, where he led the Tigers to back-to-back SIAC championships. He also brought his former quarterback from Benedict, Eric Phoenix, and together they have led the Bulldogs to a 4-2 start.
Can they take the next step and return the Bulldogs to the Celebration Bowl? They open conference play on Homecoming Day against Delaware State, which had matched up well against them throughout the decade until SCSU’s 35-7 win last year.
Morgan State will be the first of the chase pack to get a crack at North Carolina Central when it travels to Durham on Saturday. Last season, both teams met early in conference play and Morgan State held one of the better offensive units in the FCS to 16 points. The problem was, the Bears only scored 10.
This season, coach Damon Wilson hopes the difference can be an improved offense because the defense will be stingy once again. Just in time for conference play, All-America linebacker Erick Hunter will be back on the field ready to resume his illustrious career in the middle of the Bears defense. He and defensive lineman Elijah Williams will anchor another run at the title.
Cinderellas: Norfolk State 2-6 (0-1), Delaware State 1-6
Neither Norfolk State nor Delaware has been able to show many positives this season.
The scoreboard has not been lighting up for either squad as Delaware State averages 17 points per game and Norfolk State just 16.
They seek to resemble Howard’s 2023 squad and capture the MEAC title despite a bad nonconference record. With Norfolk facing Howard and Del State heading to South Carolina State on Saturday, they can at least play spoiler if not becoming a serious factor in the race.
The fun part of it all is the answers will come quickly.
Hang on tight because the MEAC title race is a dash that will be over before you know it.
Like the coverage of the MEAC title race? Here’s how we foresaw it all coming down in our 2024 MEAC conference preview.
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