MEAC teams produced some impressive results during the non-conference portion of their schedules. But those results carry little weight as teams head into the first full weekend of conference games.
Regardless of how well - or how poorly - teams fared in non-conference games, the conference schedule represents a new day, a day of challenges and opportunities.
For those teams that did well in non-conference play, the challenge is to build on their success. For those teams that didn't do as well, conference play is an opportunity for a fresh start.
With that in mind, coaches on both sides of the conference are bracing for tight races.
"I really think it's going to be the toughest year since I've been here,'' Coppin State men's coach Ron "Fang'' Mitchell says. "You can't say who is a bad basketball team. We had some success beating people in non-conference games. If that's a gauge, we're going to have some tough games.''
"It's a very competitive conference,'' says Howard women's coach Niki Reid Geckeler. "You never know what's going to happen until it happens. The level of competition and talent make the situation such that you have to be prepared to play every night.''
Both defending champions, Morgan State on the men's side and North Carolina A&T on the women's side, are the preseason picks to defend their titles. Both are 1-0 in MEAC play after picking conference wins in December. North Carolina A&T won on the road against Norfolk State, and Morgan State beat cross-town rival Coppin State.
Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T, Howard and Maryland Eastern Shore all are also 1-0 on the men's side. The marquee game on the men's schedule has Howard hosting Morgan State. The Bison, tabbed to finish 10the in the conference, can establish themselves as legitimate title contenders with a victory.
"Once we start conference play, everybody is re-energized, refreshed and ready to go,'' Bethune-Cookman men's coach Cliff Reed says. "Everybody knows that if they play well, they're capable of beating anybody in the conference with the possible exception of Morgan State. It might take a little more to beat them. We all are energetic and enthused about conference play because we understand that it's about conference play and the (conference) tournament. Conference play positions you for the tournament.''
On the women's side, Florida A&M, Howard, Morgan State and Maryland Eastern Shore, like North Carolina A&T, are 1-0 in the conference.
"Consistency is going to be the key,'' Reid Geckeler says. "It would be great to get off to good start. But playing well all the way to the end of the season will be key.''
A number of this weekend's women's game should shed some light on how the conference race could evolve. North Carolina A&T plays at Florida A&M Saturday and at Bethune-Cookman Monday, and Howard hosts Morgan State Saturday and Coppin State, picked to finish third, Monday.
Several teams on the men's and women's side did well in non-conference. Most notably Florida A&M's women defeated Florida, Alabama and South Florida en route to a 7-3 non-conference record. Also on the women's side, Howard defeated Holy Cross and Colgate, Hampton defeated North Carolina-Wilmington and William & Mary and North Carolina A&T beat Yale and Louisiana-Lafayette.
On the men's side, Morgan State registered victories over Arkansas, Manhattan and Long Island; Norfolk State defeated Maine, and North Carolina A&T defeated Middle Tennessee State.
"We (MEAC teams) beat some people and we came close to beating some people,'' South Carolina State men's coach Tim Carter says. "But once you start conference play, you throw everything out the window; everybody goes back to zero.''
That means that those non-conference victories -as impressive as they were in December - are just another entry in the W column. They have no bearing on the outcome of the conference race, which is the first step on the road that coaches hope will end with a conference tournament championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.