CBB: MEAC Conference Tournament Preview

Favorites (odds below +500)

Norfolk State Spartans (+175): The growth of Norfolk State’s program in recent years has been impressive. They made their 1st ever tournament appearance in 2012 which notably was when they upset Missouri as a 15 seed, but they really got going in recent years returning to the tournament in 2021 and 2022. They’ve become the alpha of the conference, and this season has been no different. The Spartans had a good non-conference that included wins over VCU, Illinois State and South Dakota State. Norfolk State only lost 3 conference games all on the road.

NC Central Eagles (+220): Before Norfolk State became the alpha of the conference it was NC Central. This program was crazy automatic, for several years it didn’t matter what happened in the regular season, they always won the conference tournament. Now they haven’t won it since 2019, is this the year they get back on top? Outside of a 3 game funk in February they’ve looked great.

Howard Bison (+450): Howard looked really good in non-conference play, the Bison came so close to beating Georgia Tech and took Cincinnati to overtime. They haven’t maintained great consistency in conference play but they ended the regular season winning 6 of their last 8. Howard is the defending champ so the Bison have been here before. Just want to note this favorite section is here for a reason, this section contains every MEAC member that’s won the conference tournament since 2010.

Sleepers (+500 or above)

South Carolina State Bulldogs (+600): South Carolina State is one of the best stories in this conference. In the 2022 offseason they had by far the longest coaching search in the nation, landing on Erik Martin in July. The long search paid off based on his results so far, being a 3 seed in just his 2nd year is impressive. The Bulldogs enter the conference tournament hot winning 7 of their last 9.

Delaware State Hornets (+1000): Delaware State was much improved this year. For a long time this program has struggled to find any wins, this year they improved quite a bit, they faded down the stretch but this has been a great story. Maybe they have a surprise run in them?

My Pick:

NC Central Eagles (+220): It’s been a few years since NC Central won the conference tournament as mentioned above, so it feels like they’re due. Watch for the Eagles to make a run.