The MEAC basketball tournament will be without three member schools this year. The conference is divided into two divisions and the MEAC Tournament seeding is based on the order of finish within the divisions. Will North Carolina Central win a fourth consecutive MEAC championship? Or will Norfolk State represent the league in the NCAA Tournament? The following contains the MEAC Tournament bracket and schedule, as well as a preview of what we can expect to see.
MEAC Conference Standings
| Team | Conference Record | Overall Record | Tournament Outlook |
| North Division | |||
| Coppin State | 8-4 | 9-12 | North 1 seed |
| Norfolk State | 8-4 | 14-7 | North 2 seed |
| Morgan State | 7-5 | 12-7 | North 3 seed |
| Delaware State | 1-11 | 3-16 | N/A |
| Howard | 0-0 | 1-4 | N/A |
| South Division | |||
| North Carolina A&T | 7-1 | 11-10 | South 1 seed |
| Florida A&M | 7-5 | 8-11 | South 2 seed |
| North Carolina Central | 3-5 | 5-8 | South 3 seed |
| South Carolina State | 1-7 | 1-17 | N/A |
MEAC Tournament Schedule
Dates: March 11-13
TV: ESPN2, FloHoops.com
Site: Scope Arena — Norfolk, VA
Byes: Top 2 get single
Most Recent Champion: North Carolina Central
MEAC Tournament Bracket
First Round
- (North 3) Morgan State 77, (South 2) Florida A&M 75
- (North 2) Norfolk State 87, (South 3) North Carolina Central 58
Semifinals
- (North 3) Morgan State 82, (North 1) Coppin State 61
- (South 1) North Carolina A&T vs. (North 2) Norfolk State
Note: Norfolk State advances to Championship Game on forfeiture
Championship
- (North 2) Norfolk State 71, (North 3) Morgan State 63
Norfolk State advances to NCAA Tournament
MEAC Conference Breakdown
MEAC basketball perhaps had the toughest time getting a season in due to virus protocol. Three teams either did not play at all this year or ended their season early. Each of Howard, Bethune-Cookman and Maryland-Eastern Shore will not participate in the MEAC Tournament. In addition, poor academic APR scores are preventing Delaware State from participating in the tournament as well. Finally, South Carolina State also won’t participate in the tournament due to virus stuff. That leaves just six teams to battle for the MEAC basketball championship.
North Carolina Central will look to win their fourth straight MEAC title and fifth in the last seven years. One would have to go all the way back to 2013 to find the last time a current MEAC program other than NCCU won the conference tournament. North Carolina A&T won that year, while former MEAC program Hampton (now in the Big South) won back-to-back titles in 2015 and ‘16.
Norfolk State was the only MEAC basketball team to rank in the top three in both scoring offense and scoring defense this season. The Spartans averaged 74.9 points per game (No. 2) while surrendering 70.0 (No. 3). Morgan State had the best offense in the MEAC this season, averaging 80.7 points per game (PPG). North Carolina A&T topped the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 66.1 PPG. Coppin State (73.5) rounded out the top three offenses while Florida A&M (69.5) was the second-best scoring defense.
Relative to other conferences, MEAC basketball does not stack up well in the college basketball net rankings. Only Morgan State (175) and Norfolk State (198) have nets in the top 200, while four programs that played games this year rank outside the top 300.
