The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) announced its 2007 preseason all-conference team and predictions during the annual Football Media Luncheon held at the Sheraton Ocean Front Hotel in Virginia Beach, Va.

Delaware State senior wide receiver Shaheer McBride was named Preseason MEAC Offensive Player of the year and Hampton senior defensive lineman Kendall Langford was selected as the Preseason MEAC Defensive Player of the Year.

The South Carolina State Bulldogs edged out the defending MEAC champion Hampton Pirates by six points to hold the first place positioning in preseason predictions. The Bulldogs, who celebrate 100 years of football this season, tallied eight first place votes and 266 total points. The Bulldogs finished the 2006 season tied at second place with a 6-2 conference record and a 7-4 overall finish.

The all-conference team and predictions are voted on by the conference’s head football coaches and sports information directors.

McBride, a first-team all-conference selection last season, led the Hornet’s receiving corp. with 55 catches for 852 yards and 11 touchdowns. Langford also garnered first-team honors last season. In 12 games, he collected 55 total tackles, 33 solo and 23 assisted, with eight sacks, third best in conference rankings.

Florida A&M led all schools with six players selected to the preseason all-conference first-team. Delaware State had five selections followed by South Carolina State with four. Hampton had three players selected while Bethune-Cookman, Howard and Norfolk State each had two players chosen.

Graduating 20 seniors from last year’s squad, the three-time defending champion Pirates were picked to finish second. The Pirates received seven first place votes and 260 total points. Delaware State rounds out the conference’s top trio with a third place predicted finish.

The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, who suffered their first losing season in nine years last year, was picked to finish fourth while interstate rival Florida A&M was selected to finish fifth.

Morgan State, Norfolk State and Howard were picked to finish sixth, seventh and eighth. The Aggies of North Carolina A&T State wrap of the preseason standings with a predicted ninth place finish.

The 2007 MEAC football season tips off Labor Day weekend featuring six MEAC football member institutions in action, including three Classics. Florida A&M highlights the list of opening day action, as they face the Southern University Jaguars in the third annual MEAC-SWAC Challenge on ESPNU beginning at 3 p.m. South Carolina State faces non-conference opponent Air-Force in the day’s first match-up beginning at 2 p.m.

Bethune-Cookman will take on the Jacksonville Dolphins in the Gateway Classic beginning at 4 p.m. followed by the Labor Day Classic featuring the Virginia State Trojans and the Norfolk State Spartans beginning at 6 p.m.

The exciting North Carolina A&T State University versus Winston-Salem State University rivalry will also kick off at 6 p.m. with the final match up featuring Costal Carolina at Delaware State wrapping up the evening beginning at 7 p.m.