MEAC football to include nine TV games
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference announced its 2005 Football Schedule on Monday. The 2005 schedule features nine televised games on ESPNU and ESPN2. The season opens on Thursday, September 1 when Morgan State plays at Towson.
Labor Day Weekend kicks-off with the league's first televised games. The first annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge with MEAC co-champion South Carolina State vs. SWAC champion Alabama State will be televised live from Birmingham's (Ala.) Legion Field on ESPN2 at 3:30 p.m. (EST). The MEAC/SWAC Challenge will be followed by the league's first conference match-up of the season, as Delaware State faces Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Fla. on ESPNU at 7 p.m.
Other televised games include two classics, the annual Battle of the Bay Classic between Hampton and Norfolk State (Oct. 15) and the annual Florida Classic in Orlando, Fla. between Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M (Nov. 19).
The package also includes three Thursday night match-ups with Hampton and N.C. A&T on Sept. 15, and two for S.C. State (Oct. 6 vs. Norfolk State and Nov. 10 vs. Morgan State).
MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas sees the deal with ESPNU as a monumental step in giving the league's 11 institutions world-wide exposure.
"This is a historic moment for our conference to have a TV package with the foremost cable sports network in the world," Commissioner Thomas said. "The Thursday night games are great. Saturday night games are great. All of which will allow our teams and institutions additional marketing exposure throughout the season. "We look forward to this longtime partnership with ESPNU-ESPN2."
The MEAC signed a seven-year deal with ESPNU in February for coverage of multiple sports, including cable exclusives for football and men's basketball. As part of the agreement, ESPN Classic will provide a live telecast of at least one football and one men's basketball game a year from each conference.
2005 MEAC Football TV Schedule
| Sept. 3 | 3:30 p.m. | S.C. State vs. Alabama State | (Birmingham, Ala.) |
| Sept. 3 | 7 p.m. | Delaware State at Florida A&M | Tallahassee, FL |
| Sept. 15 | 7:30 p.m. | Hampton at N.C. A&T State | Greensboro, NC |
| Oct. 6 | 7:30 p.m. | S.C. State at Norfolk State | Norfolk, VA |
| Oct. 15 | 7 p.m. | Hampton at Norfolk State | Norfolk, VA |
| Oct. 29 | 7 p.m. | Bethune-Cookman at N.C. A&T State | Greensboro, NC |
| Nov. 5 | 7 p.m. | S.C. State at Howard | Washington, DC |
| Nov. 10 | 7:30 p.m. | Morgan State at S.C. State | Orangeburg, SC |
| Nov. 19 | TBA | Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M | (Orlando, Fla.) |
© 2005 Azeez Communications, Inc.