1. North Carolina Central (14-5, 6-0)
The defending MEAC champs look to be the class of the conference once again, as they sit alone atop the standings after sweeping Norfolk State and Hampton. NCCU was challenged in both games and managed to come away with tight wins to stretch their MEAC win streak to 25 games.
 |
| (HamptonRoads.com photo) |
2. Norfolk State (12-9, 5-1)
NSU had two tough games last weekend, losing to NCCU and beating A&T at home. The Spartans are just one game behind NCCU, and with more than a month remaining in the regular season, they still figure to play a role in the regular season title chase. Having the Jeff Short, the MEAC’s leading scorer, doesn’t hurt either.
 |
| (TSU photo) |
3. Texas Southern (8-10, 5-0):
After a rough start, Texas Southern made noise with wins over Michigan State and Kansas State and have yet to look back. In addition to being perfect in the SWAC, TSU’s last two non-conference losses to Auburn and New Mexico State were both by two points. This team could be scary during tournament time.
4. Delaware State (9-9, 4-1):
A year ago, Delaware State was lingering near the bottom of the MEAC with no where to go but up. This season they’ve beaten teams from the Ivy League (Penn), ACC (Wake Forest) and CAA (Delaware). They also feature two of the best players in HBCU Hoops: guard Amere May (18 ppg) and big man Kendall Gray (11 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 3.2 bpg).
 |
| (Hampton University/Mark Sutton photo) |
5. Hampton (8-10, 4-2):
Like their rivals to the south, Hampton entered last weekend’s games perfect in the MEAC. But back-to-back losses against North Carolina A&T and NCCU leave the Pirates with more ground to make up, but again, there is still a long way to go this season.
Best of The Rest: Alabama State (9-5, 5-0)
Predicted to win the SWAC this season, Alabama State has been steady all year, and remains unbeaten in conference play.