2025 MEAC Conference Basketball Tournament

The MEAC Conference Tournament remains a de facto home-court advantage for Norfolk State, as the Spartans aren’t playing on campus, but they are playing in their home city. It hasn’t helped the last two years, as Howard is the reigning two-time champion, but Norfolk State did win in 2021 and 2022 and has played in five of the last seven championship games. Newcomer South Carolina State under third-year head coach Erik Martin has their highest seed in this tournament since 2009 and is getting some oddsmaker respect.

There are only eight teams in the conference and all of them get to play at least a game in this event.

 

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Note that the Semifinals are at 6 p.m. and 8ish p.m. ET on Friday, with a quick turnaround to the 1 p.m. ET championship game on Saturday.

How to Watch the MEAC Conference Tournament

When: March 12-15

Where: Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, VA

Format: No byes; staggered Quarterfinals schedule with No. 1 and No. 2 seeds on Wednesday, Semifinals on Friday

Watch: ESPN+, ESPN2; Championship Game on ESPN2 on Mar. 15 at 1:00 p.m. ET

College Basketball Odds | College Basketball Betting Splits | Greg Peterson’s Daily Lines | Steve Makinen’s Power Ratings

MEAC Conference Tournament Bracket

Coming soon.

MEAC Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds

1. Norfolk State (+125)

2. South Carolina State (+125)

3. Delaware State (+1600)

4. Howard (+1200)

5. Morgan State (+3500)

6. North Carolina Central (+1600)

7. Coppin State (+25000)

8. Maryland Eastern Shore (+25000)

(odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)

Favorite To Win MEAC Conference Tournament

At time of writing, South Carolina State and Norfolk State were co-favorites, but I would expect that to change and Norfolk State to be the favorite when this tournament tips off on March 12. I’m not saying that because there’s a big gap between the teams, but the Spartans are more of a household-adjacent name than the Bulldogs and seeing them at any plus price is sure to pique the interest of bettors, especially since KenPom has the Spartans rated higher and they’re basically at home.

SC State and Norfolk State split during the regular season in two very competitive games, as the Spartans won by a bucket at home in overtime and SC State won by 3 at home. The two games were wildly different in terms of offensive output, as Norfolk State’s OT win was 69-67 and SC State’s win was 91-88.

In terms of MEAC-only stats, Norfolk State was No. 1 in adjusted offensive efficiency, TO% on offense, DRB%, 2P% offense and defense. SC State was No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency, TO% defense, ORB%, and FT Rate. SC State was also 4.5% better from 3 and defended the 3-point line far better than Norfolk State.

MEAC Conference Tournament Darkhorse

Howard is 12/1 and somewhat attractive. The Bison were No. 1 in eFG% offense and defense in conference action, as they led the conference in FT% and were second in 2P% and 3P%. They were also tops in 3P% defense. That being said, Howard lost by double digits in both meetings against SC State and Norfolk State, including back-to-back losses to those teams to finish out the regular season.

It is worth noting that NC Central did have a win over both teams and both games against Norfolk State were close. So were the two games against Delaware State, their Quarterfinal opponent. NC Central was +5.5 at home against Norfolk State on Mar. 3 and +9 on the road on Feb. 3, so I’ll say they’re about +7.5 if they meet here. They were +9.5 at SC State on Mar. 6 and -1.5 at home on Jan. 25, so that second game was adjusted substantially based on NC State’s play.

I think +1600 is an okay value on NC Central if you believe in LeVelle Moton’s crew. It is probably slightly better or around where a moneyline rollover would end up.

Players to Watch in MEAC Conference Tournament

The level of play in the MEAC is not strong. There are lots of turnovers, lots of fouls and free throws, and lots of inefficiency. It is the 31st-ranked conference in 3P Rate, but No. 1 in FT Rate and ORB%. It’s also No. 1 in TO%. Because you get a lot of pressure defense and foul trouble, minutes are pretty spread out, which is why only 21 players rank in double figures. Well, that and the shot selection.

Howard is set up well with conference leading scorer Blake Harper (19.3 PPG, 6.3 RPB, 3.5 APG) and also Marcus Dockery (16.4 PPG). Interestingly, Howard, Delaware State, and Morgan State are the only teams with two scorers in the top 10. For Delaware State, those players are Robert Smith (18.3 PPG) and Martaz Robinson (16.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG).
Norfolk State is led by Brian Moore Jr. (19 PPG) and they have three scorers in the top 20, as does NC Central, with all-name-team member Po’Boigh King (16.5 PPG) at the top of the list. For SC State, nobody ranks in the top 10, but they do have three guys in double figures, most notably Drayton Jones (13.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.5 BPG).

Betting Pick to Win The MEAC Conference Tournament

Ultimately, I guess my lean goes to Norfolk State here. In the two games against SC State, they had a couple of outliers. The Mar. 1 loss, they were -17 at the free throw line and -18 in attempts. In the Feb. 1 win, they were just 2-of-16 from 3, but still found a way to win.

All of the teams in this conference are not very good and this is one where we could see some upsets, much like we did last year when the top two seeds lost in the Semifinals and we got a 4 vs. 6 title game. No. 6 NC Central won in 2018 and the No. 3 seed in 2019. So, I’m not betting a future here, except for maybe NC Central at the big number, but for the purposes of the article, the pick to win is Norfolk State.

Pick: Norfolk State +125

Steve Makinen MEAC Power Ratings

Coming soon.

  • Small underdogs of 5 points or less are on a highly profitable 13-9 SU and 18-4 ATS (81.8%) run up through the quarterfinal round of the MEAC tournament.
  • MEAC Semifinal favorites are on a 9-4 SU & ATS (69.2%) surge but did lose both games outright last year.
  • Eight of the last 10 (80%) MEAC Championship games went Under the total
  • Extreme totals have shown definitive Under results in the MEAC tournament since 2015, with totals of more than 148 showing 12-1 Under (92.3%), and those less than 132 going 10-3 Under (76.9%).

More Steve Makinen Conference Tournament Betting Trends.

Check out the other previews in our 2025 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.

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