By ALVIN HOLLINS JR.
Alvinhollins833@yahoo.com – Most teams are at the halfway point of their seasons, and some things are becoming clear:

THE BEST OF THE BEST: Bethune-Cookman, South Carolina State. These two are headed for a classic Showcase Showdown: DOGS vs. CATS ON THE BEACH, October 26….

TEAMS ON THE RISE?: Parity has reared its head in this league with only two remaining unbeaten teams (See Best of the Best), leaving a nine-team mass of humanity in their wake…. Delaware State (2-1) seems to be the best of the crowd, although Norfolk State (2-1) is tied with them for third (DSU owns a head-to-head edge from Saturday’s 14-7 win over NSU)….

IMPOSTERS OR HOPEFULS: After that, there is a four-team pack of 1-1 teams who still have hopes to have a say in the conference race: North Carolina Central, FAMU, Morgan State and Hampton… Hampton pulled a huge upset of North Carolina A&T ending a winless streak,,, FAMU snapped a four-game slide with a win at Savannah State, ending for the moment a mystifying slump that had the Rattler faithful shaking their heads… NCCU was bombed at home Thursday by South Carolina State, raising questions about the program’s stability with the drama surrounding their deposed coach… Morgan State was off Saturday, but they too have been too inconsistent to be a contender…

FLAT OUT OF IT: North Carolina A&T (1-2) was riding the wave of a 3-0 start including two OOC wins, but back-to-back conference losses have all but eliminated them from the race, but perhaps the program is showing fatigue being shorthanded scholarship wise, and from some problematic issues with personnel…. Howard (0-3) is clearly a team of potential perhaps missing their head coach (on leave), but the Bison seem to be in fade mode now…. Savannah State (0-3) may be the most dangerous 0-3 team in the league with their Air Raid spread offense under first year coach Earnest Wilson, and may yet scratch out a win or two before the year ends…

NOTES: The league will hit the halfway point in conference play this week, and it appears that B-CU and SCSU (remember those preseason predictions??? Starting to look like Nostradumus those folks) are a cut above, but while SCSU seems to be on a mission to dominate and destroy, B-CU seems content to get the lead and protect it…. Should make for an interesting bout in two weeks…

What will be interesting will be how the other nine squads shake out…. Delaware State has just one team left on its’ schedule with a .500 overall record, this week at North Carolina A&T, so the pesky Hornets might still have a title shot if the frontrunners find an oil slick or two on the road ahead…. DSU arguably had the strongest schedule with #1 North Dakota State, #4 Towson, #16 Bethune-Cookman and Delaware…

Norfolk State has a rugged closing schedule with ODU (Oct. 26), then B-CU, SCSU and NCCU in the last three games in November…

Everyone else, we’ll just have to wait and see….

 

2013 MEAC FOOTBALL STANDINGS
Through October 12
Team …………………… Conference …….. Overall
South Carolina State …. 3-0 1.000 ….. 5-2 .714
Bethune-Cookman ……. 2-0 1.000 ….. 5-1 .857
Delaware State …………2-1 .667 ….. 2-4 .333
Norfolk State ………….. 2-1 .667 ….. 2-4 .333
North Carolina Central .. 1-1 .500 ….. 3-3 .500
Florida A&M ……………. 1-1 .500 ….. 2-4 .333
Hampton …………………1-1 .500 ….. 1-5 .167
Morgan State ……………1-1 .500 ….. 1-5 .167
North Carolina A&T …… 1-2 .333 ….. 3-2 .600
Howard …………………. 0-3 .000 ….. 1-6 .142
Savannah State ……….. 0-3 .000 ….. 1-6 .142

MEAC WEEK SEVEN SCORECARD (October 10-12)
Thursday
South Carolina State 44, North Carolina Central 3, ESPNU

Saturday
Bethune-Cookman 27, Howard 6
Hampton 31, North Carolina A&T 26
Delaware State 14, Norfolk State 7
Florida A&M 27, Savannah State 14

NEXT WEEK’S SCHEDULE (October 19)
Savannah State at Bethune-Cookman, 4:00
Hampton at Norfolk State, 1:00
Delaware State at North Carolina A&T, 1:00
Morgan State at North Carolina Central, 2:00
Howard University at Florida A&M, 2:00
South Carolina State is idle.