MEAC Basketball: Bethune-Cookman weighs potential exit from conference

What if Bethune-Cookman leaves MEAC Basketball?

If BCU’s board of trustees decides that leaving the MEAC would be the best course of action for the school, the survival of the MEAC as a viable and cloudy conference becomes a bit more cloudy. First, the move could be the catalyst for the remaining higher-profile members of the conference to follow suit, which would bring the stability of the league almost to critical mass.

For hoops, this would be a tragedy for supporters of MEAC basketball, given the league’s history and importance to black college basketball in general. Bethune’s fortunes on the court would almost certainly vary, depending on where they would decide to move:

1. BCU could follow it’s rival Florida A&M to the friendly confines of the SWAC. This would be a great move in terms of continuing to showcase the rivalries that make HBCU athletics the intimately special experience it is to its’ supporters. It would also really raise the competitive profile in the league for the short term, adding a squad that would immediately compete for conference titles and postseason tourney bids. It would also fall right in with the rest of the conference members in terms of a geographical match, which would have a positive impact fiscally on the school’s athletic department.
2. BCU could blaze its trail to join the Atlantic Sun Conference, which is basketball-centric. The competitive profile is substantially higher than the SWAC at this stage, but there’s a chance that Bethune Cookman’s program could have a comparable impact in that league as well, though it may take a bit longer there with the likes of Florida Gulf Coast, Lipscomb, and Liberty making the lion’s share of the headlines for the conference. The travel demands are a bit more of a struggle (the northernmost point in the league is New Jersey), but it’s manageable.

Both options are good for BCU hoops in their respective ways, with both leagues offering some pretty unique opportunities for increased visibility. The intriguing aspect of this decision is that it could ultimately force several other mid-major conferences surrounding the MEAC into action, either accepting survivors of the fallout into their respective leagues or potentially ensuring that some drop a level to Division II in the name of fiscal survival.

The relocation of BCU to the SWAC or the A-Sun would almost certainly be the tipping point for a domino effect among the remaining teams in the conference. Where the dust would eventually settle for those programs affected is a bit difficult to predict at this stage.