WestCoastAggie
October 4th, 2010, 02:01 PM
The State of the MEAC
By THOMAS GRANT JR. T&D Senior Sports Writer The Times and Democrat
Posted: Sunday, October 3, 2010 4:00 pm
It's time for a little honesty.
Raise your hand if there was an urge to chuckle after watching the closing part of the MEAC commercial aired during Saturday's tape-delayed showing of the South Carolina State-Florida A&M football game. You know, the part where Commissioner Dennis Thomas says "athletic excellence" about the MEAC?
When it comes to football, the only "excellent" part being exhibited is the 20-game conference-winning streak by the Bulldogs and Bethune-Cookman's dominating 4-0 start. Aside from those two developments, there's truly not much for Thomas to hold his head proudly about this season when discussing the current bad state of football in the MEAC.
How bad? It's the only conference in all of Football Championship Subdivision play which still has three winless teams (North Carolina A&T, Delaware State and Savannah State) through a month of football. It also has just three of the 11 teams playing above .500 and a first-place team in Hampton whose 3-0 record was built on beating three winless teams (Howard, North Carolina A&T and Delaware State) at the time who currently own a combined record of 1-12.
What's also damaging the conference's brand is the questionable addition of perennially underachieving Savannah State. At a time where the Football Bowl Subdivision conferences promote expansion for teams which offer stability, a winning tradition and strong media markets, Savannah State only qualifies barely in the third criteria and has provided further embarrassment with the current lawsuit involving former head coach and popular S.C. State defensive coordinator Robby Wells and the reverse discrimination claims made against them by former white players.
If anything, Savannah State's addition is helping to accomplish what many believe the Legacy Bowl would do - bring the MEAC down to a level where it's viewed in the same non-serious manner as its HBCU brethren the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The most recent FCS power ratings I was able to locate has the MEAC ranked near the bottom with the Patriot League and SWAC, all but eliminating the possibility of an at-large berth to go to the FCS playoffs with the automatic qualifier.
http://www.thetandd.com/news/opinion/blogs/following_the_bulldogs/article_bf7e310e-cf31-11df-92fa-001cc4c002e0.html
By THOMAS GRANT JR. T&D Senior Sports Writer The Times and Democrat
Posted: Sunday, October 3, 2010 4:00 pm
It's time for a little honesty.
Raise your hand if there was an urge to chuckle after watching the closing part of the MEAC commercial aired during Saturday's tape-delayed showing of the South Carolina State-Florida A&M football game. You know, the part where Commissioner Dennis Thomas says "athletic excellence" about the MEAC?
When it comes to football, the only "excellent" part being exhibited is the 20-game conference-winning streak by the Bulldogs and Bethune-Cookman's dominating 4-0 start. Aside from those two developments, there's truly not much for Thomas to hold his head proudly about this season when discussing the current bad state of football in the MEAC.
How bad? It's the only conference in all of Football Championship Subdivision play which still has three winless teams (North Carolina A&T, Delaware State and Savannah State) through a month of football. It also has just three of the 11 teams playing above .500 and a first-place team in Hampton whose 3-0 record was built on beating three winless teams (Howard, North Carolina A&T and Delaware State) at the time who currently own a combined record of 1-12.
What's also damaging the conference's brand is the questionable addition of perennially underachieving Savannah State. At a time where the Football Bowl Subdivision conferences promote expansion for teams which offer stability, a winning tradition and strong media markets, Savannah State only qualifies barely in the third criteria and has provided further embarrassment with the current lawsuit involving former head coach and popular S.C. State defensive coordinator Robby Wells and the reverse discrimination claims made against them by former white players.
If anything, Savannah State's addition is helping to accomplish what many believe the Legacy Bowl would do - bring the MEAC down to a level where it's viewed in the same non-serious manner as its HBCU brethren the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The most recent FCS power ratings I was able to locate has the MEAC ranked near the bottom with the Patriot League and SWAC, all but eliminating the possibility of an at-large berth to go to the FCS playoffs with the automatic qualifier.
http://www.thetandd.com/news/opinion/blogs/following_the_bulldogs/article_bf7e310e-cf31-11df-92fa-001cc4c002e0.html