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MEAC Basketball: 2020 conference tournament preview and predictions

By Herbert Seward III

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: The MEAC logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Yale Bulldogs and the Howard Bison at Burr Gymnasium on January 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: The MEAC logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Yale Bulldogs and the Howard Bison at Burr Gymnasium on January 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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MEAC Basketball
DAYTON, OHIO – MARCH 20: (L-R) Jordan Perkins #4, Zacarry Douglas #1, against the North Dakota State Bison Raasean Davis #32 of the North Carolina Central Eagles (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

This year’s MEAC Basketball tourney looks to be an exciting and wide-open affair this year, with at least six squads or so with a legit shot at winning an automatic bid to the big dance.

This year in MEAC Basketball hasn’t been as clear-cut as it has in recent years, but the parity of the conference has directly contributed to a quality of play that’s been extremely entertaining. Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, and North Carolina Central are the usual suspects when we look at who’s been the cream of the crop in the conference over the years and this year is no different (for the most part).

There are squads that are raising collective eyebrows and staking their claim as dark horses to make a run to the MEAC tourney championship, and that automatic bid to the big dance. Morgan State Coach Kevin Broadus’ inaugural year in the conference has seen a marked improvement with the team, with the Bears sharing 3rd-place in the current conference standings with an equally surprising Bethune-Cookman squad.

Speaking of Aggies, North Carolina A&T had a bit of their own adversity to overcome earlier in the season with interim Head Coach Will Jones having to pick up the pieces after Jay Joiner was terminated after a 3-10 start. North Carolina A&T responded by compiling a 13-4 record since the change, which has them sitting pretty at the top of the MEAC standings going into the season’s home stretch.

North Carolina Central’s late-regular season surge netted them the regular-season conference crown and the #1 Seed in what looks to be an exciting and wide-open conference tournament.