The MEAC lost two more schools in recent weeks, as expected, with Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman officially joining the SWAC right as North Carolina A&T completes its move to join former MEAC opponent Hampton in the Big South. The move expands the SWAC to a twelve-member league stretched from Houston to Daytona Beach. It reduces the MEAC to an eight-school league, with only six football-playing members and even fewer in other sports. The SWAC appears strong. The MEAC appears on the brink of collapse. The ramifications for HBCU sports are significant.
Currently, there are 23 Division-I HBCU’s. In addition to the twelve in the SWAC, the eight in the MEAC, and the two in the Big South, there’s Tennessee State, which plays in the Ohio Valley Conference. There’s also at least one Predominantly Black Institution, Chicago State, which lacks the history of HBCU’s but serves a predominantly Black student base. It’s possible there are more D-I PBI’s, but I’m not aware of any others. There are roughly sixty other HBCU’s with athletic departments scattered around other ranks, from D-II to NAIA to NJCAA.
The MEAC might not collapse. It might pull in one or more Division-II program, and Chicago State has reportedly expressed interest in joining. HBCU Gameday had a deeper, more educated look at this back in May.
If the MEAC doesn’t survive, it won’t spell the end of HBCU sports. The eight schools will have to go somewhere, with Division-II an option (Savannah State recently dropped from the MEAC to D-II) and plenty of low and mid-major conferences near that geographic base, almost all of which are experiencing significant movement from and to their ranks. The SWAC will presumably remain strong. The three other D-I HBCU’s will presumably remain rather secure in their arrangements. But if the MEAC doesn’t survive, there will almost assuredly be one fewer HBCU in each of the NCAA Tournaments in basketball, along with either no Celebration Bowl or a Celebration Bowl in a new format, rather than one pitting the SWAC Champion against the MEAC Champion.
We’ll see. Something to keep an eye on.
