MEAC Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2018-19

The MEAC should be competitive as ever entering the 2018-19 season. Things should get interesting in March though, as they did last season’s tournament.

The Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference (MEAC) saw a two-way tie for its regular season title between the Savannah State Tigers and Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. The Hampton Pirates were also given a share of the regular season title, despite playing one less game. Things changed when the conference tournament came around in March.

Both Savannah State and Bethune-Cookman lost in the quarterfinals of last year’s MEAC Tournament while Hampton made it all the way to conference finals. The North Carolina Central Eagles made a run of their own to the MEAC Finals, after finishing sixth in the conference during the regular season. The Eagles ended up taking home the crown over the Pirates and earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament behind head coach LeVelle Moton.

It looks as though it will be Bethune-Cookman’s conference to lose, but they’ll have challengers across the conference. Savannah State returns an offense that led the MEAC in points per game (82.2) in 2017-18, but they have six seniors to replace.

All eyes will be on head coach LeVelle Moton and  North Carolina Cenral to perform at a high level in 2018-19. The MEAC will be without the Hampton Pirates, who left the conference for the Big South. With 12 teams remaining, things should be a lot more challenging for those left. Here’s a look at the MEAC Preseason rankings for 2018-19.