MEAC sheds light on conference title race and football tiebreaker

NORFOLK, Virginia (11/19/14) –  Heading into the final regular season games of the year, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) hopes to shed light on the conference title race and football tiebreaker procedures.

The MEAC’s tiebreaker process is solely to determine which team will receive the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division I FCS Championship. In the event of a tie for the Conference title, all teams included in the tie will share the title and be named co-champions.

First and foremost, if North Carolina A&T State defeats North Carolina Central, then North Carolina A&T State will earn the conference’s regular season title and MEAC’s automatic bid to the FCS Championship.

A loss by North Carolina A&T State would trigger one or multiple ties that could affect Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina Central, Morgan State and South Carolina State based on each team’s regular season finish.

In the event of a tie, the head-to-head criteria would be used first. The automatic bid will be awarded to the team with the best record against the other tied teams, regardless if all have played each other. If a tie still remains, a points system based on the tied teams’ non-conference record would determine the team that will be awarded the Conference’s automatic bid.

If North Carolina A&T State and North Carolina Central tie for first, then North Carolina Central earns the automatic bid based on its head-to-head win over North Carolina A&T State.

Three (3) three-way ties are possible.

The three-way tie including Morgan State, North Carolina A&T State, and North Carolina Central all finishing at number one would give North Carolina A&T State the Conference’s automatic bid. North Carolina A&T State would earn the bid based on its eight (8) point advantage in non-conference play. Because all teams remained tied after the first criteria, head-to-head, then the automatic bid was awarded based on non-conference wins.

If North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina Central and South Carolina State finish at number one, a three-way tie would occur and North Carolina Central would earn the Conference’s automatic bid. In this scenario N.C. Central would hold head-to-head wins over both North Carolina A&T State and South Carolina State.

If Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T State, and North Carolina Central finish at number one, three-way tie, then Bethune-Cookman will receive the conference’s automatic bid based on its record versus all-tied teams.

Three (3) four-way ties are possible.

If North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina Central, Morgan State and South Carolina State all finish in first place, then Morgan State will receive the conference’s automatic bid based on its record versus all-tied teams.

If Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina Central and South Carolina State finish first, then North Carolina Central will receive the Conference’s automatic bid. Again, this determination would be based on N.C. Central’s record versus all-tied teams.

If Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina Central, and Morgan State finish at number one, then Bethune-Cookman will receive the Conference’s automatic bid. The determination of the bid is based on the B-CU’s record versus all-tied teams.

A five-way tie is possible.

The possibility of a five-way tie exists if Bethune-Cookman, North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina Central, Morgan State and South Carolina State all finish at 6-2 in conference play. Each team will share the conference title and Morgan State will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS Championship based on its record versus all-tied teams.

MEAC Tiebreaker:
1. If NCAT wins: (AQ: NCAT)
2. If NCCU wins, NCAT loses, BCU loses, SCSU loses and MSU loses: (AQ: NCCU)
3. If NCCU wins, NCAT loses, BCU loses, MSU wins, SCSU loses (AQ: NCAT)
4. If NCCU wins, NCAT loses, BCU loses, MSU loses, and SCSU wins (AQ: NCCU)
5. If NCCU wins, NCAT loses, BCU wins, SCSU loses and MSU loses (AQ: BCU)
6. If NCCU wins, NCAT loses, BCU loses, MSU wins, and SCSU wins (AQ: MSU)
7. If NCCU wins, NCAT loses, BCU wins, MSU loses and SCSU wins (AQ: NCCU)
8. If NCCU wins, NCAT loses, BCU wins, MSU wins and SCSU loses (AQ: BCU)
9. If NCCU wins, NCAT loses, BCU wins, MSU wins, and SCSU wins: (AQ: MSU)

COURTESY MEAC MEDIA RELATIONS