The MEAC has never been a very strong conference, and it, in addition to the SWAC, is filled with all of the HBCU schools. Most of them don’t have NIL, and many of them have to play a large amount of buy games at the beginning of the year to have an operating budget. That is why what the Norfolk State Spartans have done over the last five seasons with their complete domination of the MEAC is impressive. Norfolk State won the MEAC again this year and claimed automatic bid number 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
MOOD!! WE ARE GOING DANCING!! pic.twitter.com/AegdH6dvPb
— Robert Jones (@NSUCoachJones) March 16, 2025
The Spartans are making their fourth-ever appearance in the big dance, and three of those appearances have come under current head coach Robert Jones. This is the first tournament appearance for Norfolk State since the 2021-2022 season. The Spartans entered the tournament with an overall record of 24-10 and finished 11-3 in the MEAC. This marks the fourth season in a row that the Spartans have surpassed the 20-win mark.
Norfolk State, like so many other teams in their conference, was given a 16 seed. 16 seeds have done it twice, they have beaten a one seed and each time it took a perfect storm. The ones this year are the strongest they have been in quite some time, but there are some ways that Norfolk State can win a game. Here are some reasons that the Spartans can win a game in the NCAA Tournament.
Tempo
An advantage that Norfolk State may have, even if it is a minor one is that they don’t play fast and like to slow the game down. According to KenPom, the Spartans get about 66 possessions, which is good for 226th in the country. They are not the slowest team, but they are not the fastest team either. Only one number 1 seed that is slower than that. The others like to play faster or at the exact same pace as the Spartans. Like I said, it is a minor advantage and one that Norfolk State may be able to take advantage of, especially if they can make their opponent uncomfortable by forcing them to play slower.
Free Throw Line
The Spartans don’t shoot very many threes and love to work their offense downhill and get to the rim; because of that, they do draw a lot of fouls. Drawing that many fouls means they have a lot of opportunity at the line where they are one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the country. Norfolk State takes an average of 21 free throws per game and makes 17 of them. Those numbers are both top 50 in the country. It is always a benefit to get to the line and score points without the clock moving. That is the quickest way to stay in a game or mount a huge comeback, especially when you don’t shoot a lot of threes. The Spartans must get to the line if they want any chance of an upset in round 1, and to take that a step further, they are going to have to shoot their averages from the line.
Efficiency
Norfolk State is extremely consistent. They are one of the only low majors who everyone knows what to expect on a yearly basis and that is because coach Jones coach’s efficient offense. We already talked about he makes sure his guys get downhill and draw a ton of fouls, but when they are not drawing fouls, they convert inside the three-point line at 55%. It is that type of efficiency that is going to keep the Spartans around in their opening-round game until the end. They are going to be undersized, and they are going to have to deal with shot blockers. It would be very un-Spartan-like to go away from has worked all season. They have a lot of speed on the perimeter and can get around the shot blockers. They have only had about 3.5 shots blocked on average this season. If they can continue to convert their high percentage looks, they will have the chance to do the unthinkable.
Norfolk State has their work cut out for them if they are going to be the third 16 seed to ever beat a 1 seed. It will be a tall task but if any coach can pull it off it is Robert Jones. His guys play hard and will run through a wall for him. Good Luck to Norfolk State.