This is the eighth post in our 24-part Super Squad Series, recognizing the best programs over the last three years in every single Division I FBS & FCS Conference, as well as the upperclassmen & staff who’ve anchored them.
Congratulations to the North Carolina A&T Aggies for having the best football program in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference for the last three years!
Kudos especially to the 33 student athletes who were on the roster each of these three seasons, 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20:
Jalen Fowler, Kylil Carter, Elijah Bell, Ahmed Bah, James Mackey, Richie Kittles, Zachary Leslie, Najee Reams, Derrek Williams, Amir McNeill, Kashon Baker, Mac McCain III, Jalon Bethea, Noel Ruiz, Davis Rogers, Leon “Tre” Smalls, William Simpson, Devin Harrell, John Davis, Kyin Howard, Dacquari Wilson, Elijah Westbrook, Ernest (Petie) Bush III, Deven Milton, Marcus Pettiford, Bilal Ali, Dontae Keys, Ron Hunt, Jarvis Reid, Karfa Kaba, Jermaine Williams, Justin Cates, Kadarius Kendrick
Before getting deeper into our winners’ accolades, here are the conference runners-up, from worst-to-first:
9th
Delaware State Hornets, #251
1.4 Super Squad Rating
Record:
7-27 Overall
5-18 MEAC
0 Championships
Average Power:
21.5
Yearly Finish:
#245, #254, #245
The Hornets were one of the most consistent performers in Division I across the last three seasons. Unfortunately that consistency has looked like ranking #245, #254, and #245 out of 256 teams in 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively.
In our Super Squad series we only ranked the 253 teams who were active all three seasons, making Delaware State our third-worst overall program in recent Division I history.
8th
Morgan State Bears, #249
1.6 Super Squad Rating
Record:
8-28 Overall
6-17 MEAC
0 Championships
Average Power:
25.7
Yearly Finish:
#252, #243, #237
Another consistent low-ranking team, the Bears are at least trending in the right direction, improving from #252 to #243 to #237 in Hierank’s rankings the last three years.
7th
Howard Bison, #235
2.1 Super Squad Rating
Record:
13-20 Overall
12-11 MEAC
0 Championships
Average Power:
31.3
Yearly Finish:
#169, #236, #251
Howard pulled together a respectable 2017 season, going 7-4 overall and finishing second in the MEAC. That 6-2 MEAC season even contributed to a winning MEAC record covering the last three years.
Unfortunately though, unlike Morgan State behind them, the Bison are heading in the wrong direction. Since their 2017 success, they’ve sharply-declined, all the way to finishing in the Bottom 10 Division I teams last year, at #251.
6th
Norfolk State Spartans, #229
2.3 Super Squad Rating
Record:
13-21 Overall
10-13 MEAC
0 Championships
Average Power:
33.0
Yearly Finish:
#207, #251, #184
Despite slightly-worse records than Howard behind them, Norfolk State has hobbled together three mediocre seasons and committed no major embarrassments the last three years.
The Spartans went .500 in the MEAC in 2017 and 2019, with 2019 being their best recent season.
5th
North Carolina Central Eagles, #216
2.5 Super Squad Rating
Record:
16-18 Overall
11-12 MEAC
0 Championships
Average Power:
34.8
Yearly Finish:
#146, #241, #236
NC Central‘s path the last three years looks a lot like Howard‘s above, except with an even-better ranking 2017 season (#146), and a less-sharp decline that even poked up slightly after 2018.
4th
South Carolina State Bulldogs, #191
3.0 Super Squad Rating
Record:
16-16 Overall
12-11 MEAC
0 Championships
Average Power:
40.2
Yearly Finish:
#204, #230, #119
While dipping in the middle year of this analysis, the Bulldogs have still improved immensely since 2017. Last year for them represents the first season performance on our list to rank in the top 50% of all 256 Division I teams.
3rd
Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, #190
3.0 Super Squad Rating
Record:
21-13 Overall
14-7 MEAC
0 Championships
Average Power:
40.6
Yearly Finish:
#137, #229, #187
This Wildcats squad is the first on our list to turn in three winning seasons. Despite this, their inability to even once crack into the top 50% of teams shows the relative weakness of the MEAC, even among FCS conferences.
2nd
Florida A&M Rattlers, #188
3.0 Super Squad Rating
Record:
18-15 Overall
14-7 MEAC
0 Championships
Average Power:
40.6
Yearly Finish:
#222, #201, #127
The Rattlers are the best of a remarkably-tight three team pack that sits wayyyy behind our MEAC Super Squad Winner.
Optimistically, they’re on the strongest positive trajectory within the conference, and may have a shot at this honor in 2-3 years.
WINNER
North Carolina A&T Aggies, #77
6.4 Super Squad Rating
Record:
31-5 Overall
20-3 MEAC
3 MEAC Championships
Average Power:
58.0
Yearly Finish:
#59, #125, #69
Last week we declared San Diego the most dominant program for their respective conference in all of college football. While this week’s Aggies have had a couple conference losses in recent history, they still own the last three MEAC titles and do blow San Diego out of the water in one of the conference domination statistics we shared:
- San Diego‘s three-year squad ranked a then-record 73 positions better than the Pioneer League‘s 2nd-best squad, the Drake Bulldogs.
- A&T‘s recent three year squad outranks their nearest MEAC contender by 111 positions!
Congratulations to the Aggies’ coaches, staff, administrators, all players, and especially the 33 young men present on the roster all three years to earn this title!
Super Squad Rankings
These are our up-to-date Division I Super Squad rankings after Series Week 8. Follow along as each Sunday we fill in more teams and announce the next Super Squad!
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