MEAC Tournament 2015: Bracket, schedule and scores

N.C. Central ran the table in the regular season. Will they have any competition in the tournament?

The MEAC Tournament tips off on Monday and will run through Saturday, with 12 teams in the race to claim the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

N.C. Central completed a perfect season in conference play, going 16-0 in the regular season. They should be they heavy favorites based on that alone, but as we saw with Murray State in the Ohio Valley, nothing is a given in March. Head coach LeVelle Moton will be tasked with keeping his squad focused as the Eagles chase their second NCAA appearance in a row.

Should N.C. Central stumble, Norfolk State and Maryland Eastern Shore could end up stealing the bid. The Spartans gave N.C. Central one of its toughest conference challenges, losing by just four points at home.

The format

Florida A&M is ineligible due to an APR punishment, so 12 teams will compete in the tournament. The top four seeds get byes into the quarterfinals, while the bottom eight teams play each other in the first round. From there, the tournament follows a standard eight-team format.

The teams

1. N.C. Central Eagles


2. Norfolk State Spartans


3. Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks


4. Howard Bison


5. Delaware State Hornets


6. Hampton Pirates


7. South Carolina State Bulldogs


8. Bethune-Cookman Wildcats


9. Coppin State Eagles


10. North Carolina A&T Aggies


11. Morgan State Bears


12. Savannah State Tigers

Bracket

A downloadable bracket can be found here.

Schedule and results (all times Eastern)

Monday, March 9 (First round)

Game 1: No. 5 Delaware State 64, No. 12 Savannah State 58

Game 2: No. 6 Hampton 91, No. 11 Morgan State 71

Tuesday, March 10 (First round)

Game 3: No. 8 Bethune-Cookman vs. No. 9 Coppin State, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Game 4: No. 7 South Carolina State, vs. No. 10 North Carolina A&T, 8 p.m., ESPN3

Wednesday, March 11 (Quarterfinals)

Game 5: No. 1 North Carolina Central vs. Game 3 winner, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Game 6: No. 2 Norfolk State vs. Game 4 winner, 8 p.m., ESPN3

Thursday, March 12 (Quarterfinals)

Game 7: No. 3 Maryland Eastern Shore vs. No. 6 Hampton, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Game 8: No. 4 Howard vs. No. 5 Delaware State, 8 p.m., ESPN3

Friday, March 13 (Semifinals)

Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 6 p.m., ESPN3

Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner, 8 p.m., ESPN3

Saturday, March 14 (Championship)

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 1 p.m., ESPN2

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