1. North Carolina A&T (8-2, 5-1): Saturday’s 45-0 win over Morgan State was a prime example of why we say, at full-strength, A&T is the best overall team in the MEAC.
2. Bethune-Cookman (8-2, 5-1): Thursday night’s win over Norfolk State showed that while the Wildcats are still a great defensive team, their offensive ceiling isn’t as high as it has been.
3. Grambling State (7-3, 7-0): Another week, another win for the G-Men. Alabama State is all the stands between them and a showdown with Southern for the SWAC East Title in the Bayou Classic.
4. Alcorn State (8-2, 6-1): Alcorn clinched the SWAC East title with its 41-14 blowout of Alabama A&M on Saturday. It will host UAPB and Jackson State before heading to the SWAC Championship Game for the first time in school history.
5. South Carolina State (7-3, 5-1): SC State took care of business against FAMU on Saturday, and now it controls its destiny with two games left in the regular season.
6. Southern (7-3, 6-1): Southern survived one potential trap game with a 30-20 comeback win over Texas Southern on Saturday. If they do the same against Mississippi Valley, they’ve still got a shot to return to the SWAC Championship Game with a win in The Bayou Classic.
7. North Carolina Central (5-5, 4-2): One of three two-loss teams in the MEAC, NCCU had the best week of the three, beating Hampton 47-13 in its homecoming game. NCCU still has an outside chance at winning the MEAC (would need SC State and Morgan State to lose one game, BCU to lose two and beat both Norfolk State and A&T), but hey, it could happen.
8. Morgan State (5-5, 4-2): While not mathematically eliminated from the MEAC race, Morgan’s blowout loss to A&T all but assured that the Bears will increase their MEAC Championship drought to 35.
9. Tennessee State (5-6, 2-5): TSU finally stopped the bleeding with a 31-27 comeback win over Austin Peay on Saturday. That stopped a five-game losing streak for TSU.
10. Norfolk State (4-6, 4-2): NSU’s offense has been as bad (79 points in MEAC Comp.) as it’s defense has been good (70 points).