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2020 - THE YEAR OF THE HBCU EXODUS

A.D. Drew • Dec 24, 2020

2020 - THE YEAR OF THE HBCU EXODUS

BCSN - HBCU Conference Churning 1
EDITORIAL | A.D. DREW, Black College Sports Network

The year 2020 has been like none other in history.  While much of the focus of the African-American community has been on issues such as the pandemic, election, and social justice (and rightfully, so), there will be a shift, beginning in 2021, that will affect how HBCU fans observe their favorite institutions compete in athletics.  While, thankfully, none of our HBCU institutions have closed their doors this calendar year, traditional conferences and future match-ups between rivals will be different in the near and distant future.  COVID-19 or Coronavirus have been the big "C" words throughout society.  The moving and rearranging of conference affiliations has left two traditional HBCU conference's future in question, with another "C" word that we will explore; what Dr. J. Kenyatta Cavil of Dr. Cavil's Inside the HBCU Sports Lab calls "CONFERENCE CHURNING".  

To understand the churn of 2020, we must first go back to 2019.  In December 2019, Southern University - New Orleans had to suspend athletics due to financial considerations.  While this move was made with the best intent for the institution, this was a forecast of what was about to occur in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC).  In July of 2019, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) extended an invitation to Edward Waters to become the conference's 15th member.  Edward Waters is currently in its exploratory stage of making the move.  Although the decision may be delayed due to COVID-19, it is expected that sometime during 2021 the Tigers will announce their intent to move to Division II, and presumably that move will be with an affiliation to the SIAC.  

In February of this year, North Carolina A&T State University made a big splash that it was moving from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) to the Big South Conference, a Historically White College or University (HWCU) conference that added an HBCU in 2017, Hampton University.  A&T's move to the Big South made the Aggies the third of the twenty-four NCAA Division I HBCUs to not be affiliated with either the MEAC or Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), joining the Pirates and Tennessee State of the Ohio Valley Conference.  Tennessee State (a.k.a Tennessee A&I State College) has not been associated with a HBCU conference since they left the Midwest Athletic Association in 1966 (conference existed from 1926 to 1970).  While this move may make financial sense, the move was considered bold and controversial by many in the HBCU sports world.  What would become of the traditional rivals and classics, along with the atmosphere that surrounds "Aggie Pride"?  

The month of June was the biggest month of churning for the HBCUs.  Two institutions, who are consistently linked together, made moves within three weeks of each other, that ultimately preserved a classic and rivalry within the same conference.  At the beginning of the month, Florida A&M announced that they were leaving the MEAC to become the 11th member of the SWAC.  Consensus was that the SWAC would not stay at 11 members for long.  Bethune-Cookman and Tennessee State were the two most-rumored choices.  In less than three weeks, we would have our answer:  the Wildcats of BCU.   The move by Bethune-Cookman maintained the natural, in-state, rivalry between the two schools and ensured that the Florida Classic would remain a conference game, except now in the SWAC.

The month of July was highlighted by a move from a smaller university that ultimately led to an additional move that has led to SIAC expansion.  Allen University in Columbia, SC announced that they were beginning the move to NCAA Division II.  The Yellow Jackets were competing on the NAIA level.  Speculation surrounded what conference Allen would join, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAA) or the SIAC.  In November, we got our answer, the SIAC. Allen became the SIAC's 15th member, as a provisional member.  Assuming Edward Waters accepts their invitation to the SIAC, as the 16th member, the conference will now feature five teams in the Central Time Zone and 11 teams in the Eastern Time Zone.  

In a move that will put its university closer to its recruiting and alumni base, Xavier University of Louisiana, a founding member of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC), announced that they were leaving the GCAC and moving to the Red River Athletic Conference.  This move allows all of the Xavier teams to compete in a single NAIA conference, with automatic bids for all of the conference sponsored sports.  

Just when we thought we were finished packing and moving for the year, with two weeks to go in the calendar year, the Talladega College Tornadoes announced that they were leaving the GCAC to join the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) for 2021.  The SSAC is home to another NAIA HBCU, Stillman College, located in Tuscaloosa, AL.  Ironically, two other former GCAC members call the SSAC home:  Loyola-New Orleans and the University of Mobile.  While the conference footprint is similar to the GCAC, the SSAC boast 16 conference championships (7 men, 9 women), compared to the GCAC's 10 conference championships (4 men, 6 women).  
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What does the future bring?

Beginning in 2021, many of our norms and traditions revolving around HBCU sports will be changed.  Although we know who will be playing where, there are many questions that will be answered.


  • The MEAC has been on a ten year spiral, beginning with the Winston-Salem decision not to complete the transition to NCAA Division I in 2009.  In November 2017, Hampton announced they were leaving the MEAC for the 2019 season.  The MEAC subsequently did not let them compete in the conference in 2018 and worked out an exit agreement.  In April 2018, Savannah State announced that they were moving back to NCAA Division II in 2019.  The Tigers completed one additional year in the MEAC before moving to the SIAC.  With eight members remaining, what is the future to the MEAC?  Only six of the institutions remaining compete in football (Coppin State and Maryland-Eastern Shore do not), the Celebration Bowl and MEAC/SWAC Challenge may appear watered-down.  Most concerning for the conference is that only five institutions play baseball (Howard, Morgan State, and South Carolina State do not), the MEAC must add another baseball school within two years in order to maintain an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.  Delaware State and Norfolk State have had meetings, on the record, about their conference affiliation.  Both are committed to the MEAC, for now, but who knows what the future will bring?
  • The GCAC may be down to four members in 2021. Talladega and Xavier-LA will be gone and Edward Waters appears to be on the way out. Dillard, Philander Smith, Rust, and Tougaloo remain. The next year will be critical for this conference founded with six members in 1981. If new members are not recruited to enter the conference soon, the conference will have to merge with another conference in order to survive.
  • It appears that the SIAC will be growing to 16 teams in the near future. Savannah State has completed its transition to NCAA Division II.  Realignment of the divisions will be necessary.  While it is logical to break to divide the conference into two eight-team divisions, one team in the east, specifically in Georgia, will have to move west.  The uniqueness of a men's-only institution, Morehouse, along with three teams that do not compete in football (LeMoyne-Owen, Paine, and Spring Hill) will be worth watching to see how the conference tackles the situation. 
  • The SWAC has set itself up to be the leader of the pack, not only among HBCU conferences, but also among all FCS conferences. The SWAC has upcoming negotiations with ESPN for broadcasting rights, and with the entrance of FAMU and BCU, should be in a position to increase the rights fees for its television contract.
  • Although the Red River Athletic Conference is not a traditional HBCU conference, the conference is now home to six HBCUs (Huston-Tillotson, Jarvis Christian, Paul Quinn, Texas College, Xavier (LA), and Wiley) . This unique dynamic of six HBCUs and seven HWCUs will make for interesting rivalries.
  • The only conference not affected in 2020 by conference churning was the CIAA. Their most recent bout with conference churning was in 2018 when Chowan (HWCU) announced that it was leaving the CIAA beginning in 2019 (all sports except football). Will the CIAA hold steady or potentially lose members to the MEAC, who is in need of new membership?


Related Article: 

https://www.mybcsn.net/2020/06/originally-published-april-28-2020-tohtml

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