2026 MEAC men's basketball tournament
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| 2026 MEAC men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 7 |
| Site | Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia |
| Champions | Howard (6th title) |
| Winning coach | Kenny Blakeney (3rd title) |
| MVP | Bryce Harris (Howard) |
| Television | ESPN+ and ESPN2 |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Howard † | 11 | – | 3 | .786 | 23 | – | 10 | .697 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Morgan State | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 14 | – | 16 | .467 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Carolina Central | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 14 | – | 18 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norfolk State | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Carolina State | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 10 | – | 22 | .313 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland Eastern Shore | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 9 | – | 23 | .281 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coppin State* | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 7 | – | 24 | .226 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Delaware State | 2 | – | 12 | .143 | 8 | – | 23 | .258 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 MEAC tournament winner * Ineligible for both the 2026 NCAA Tournament and MEAC tournament due to APR penalties. As of March 14, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 MEAC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the 2025–26 season in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The tournament was held March 11–14, 2026, at Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.[1][2] The tournament winner, Howard, received the conference's automatic invitation to the 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Seven of the conference's eight members were eligible for the tournament and seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. Coppin State was ineligible to compete in the tournament due to Academic Progress Rate penalties.[3]
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Howard | 11–3 | |
| 2 | Morgan State | 10–4 | |
| 3 | North Carolina Central | 8–6 | 2–0 vs. Morgan State |
| 4 | Norfolk State | 8–6 | 0–2 vs. Morgan State |
| 5 | South Carolina State | 7–7 | |
| 6 | Maryland Eastern Shore | 5–9 | 1–1 vs. Howard |
| Inel | Coppin State | 5–9 | 0–2 vs. Howard |
| 7 | Delaware State | 2–12 |
Schedule
| Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 11 | |||||
| 1 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 2 Morgan State vs. No. 7 Delaware State | 70–75OT | ESPN+ | |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12 | |||||
| 2 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 4 Norfolk State vs. No. 5 South Carolina State | 82–88 | ESPN+ | |
| 3 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 3 North Carolina Central vs. No. 6 Maryland Eastern Shore | 83–76OT | ||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13 | |||||
| 4 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 1 Howard vs. No. 5 South Carolina State | 78–61 | ESPN+ | |
| 5 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 3 North Carolina Central vs. No. 7 Delaware State | 59–53 | ||
| Championship – Saturday, March 14 | |||||
| 6 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 1 Howard vs. No. 3 North Carolina Central | 70–63 | ESPN2 | |
| *Game times in EST. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | |||||