But NCCU has been the dominant team in men’s basketball lately and, as we know, football is king so it wasn’t a huge loss for the MEAC.

Plus, AT had become the standard in athletics in the MEAC: a growing track and field program, a solid baseball program, a very good women’s basketball program, and a men’s basketball program that is now one of the better ones in the league.

It seemed like the MEAC was well-positioned from a financial standpoint and Dr. Thomas mentioned that the schools have received an increase in revenues from the MEAC in each of his 18 years as commissioner.

Each has a good football program, good overall athletics program, particularly in men’s and women’s basketball, and each is a state school that has solid facilities—particularly VSU which has a 10,000-seat basketball arena.

On the MEAC press conference on Friday, Howard University President Dr. Wayne Frederick, chairman of the MEAC Council of Chief Executive Officers, said that the MEAC had not reached out to any schools in the CIAA and that the MEAC would have an outside consultant firm make recommendations on expansion.