Aggie repeat?: Coaches, media agree
There wasn't much difference in preseason polls from league coaches and media for the 2004 Mid Eastern Athletic Conference football championship.
Both picked defending champion North Carolina
A&T to repeat. The Aggies, led by second-year coach
George Small, received four of the possible
eight first place votes from the MEAC coaches and led all teams with seven first
place votes from the media.
Hampton (5-2, 7-4), who lost to the Aggies, 38-29 in the deciding game last year, finished second in both polls. Bethune-Cookman (5-2, 9-3) earned the third spot in the coach's poll and South Carolina State (5-2, 8-4) was picked third by the media. Both the coaches and media were in agreement on the bottom four, as Morgan State, Howard, Norfolk State and Delaware State finished five through eight.
The Aggies (6-1, 10-3) topped off a fairy tale first season for Small, capturing their first conference title since 1999 and earning the league's automatic bid to the I-AA playoffs. They returns 15 starters from last year, including defensive lineman Rickie Lewis who finished with 7.5 sacks in 2003. Also returning for the Aggies is quarterback Orrick "Rico" Watson and runningbacks Micheaux Hollingsworth and Frank Patterson.
The 2004 season kicks off Labor Day Weekend as all eight MEAC teams will be in action against non-conference opponents. N.C. A&T will end the weekend on Sunday in a matchup against North Carolina Central in the annual Aggie-Eagle Classic. Howard and Hampton will battle in the first conference game of the year, as they face off in week two, September 11 at Hampton.
The MEAC football coaches will be on hand to discuss the upcoming season at the 2004 MEAC Football Kick-off Press Luncheon, Friday, July 30 at the Hilton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Va. For ticket information contact the MEAC office at (336) 275-9961.
© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.