The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, and in football, in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Bethune–Cookman University is a private historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bethune–Cookman University is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The primary administration building, White Hall, and the Mary McLeod Bethune Home are in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Bethune–Cookman Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Bethune–Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bethune-Cookman is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and participates in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)..
The Bethune–Cookman Wildcats men's basketball team represents Bethune–Cookman University in the sport of basketball. The Wildcats compete in the NCAA Division I and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). They play their home games in Moore Gymnasium on campus in Daytona Beach, Florida. They are coached by former NBA player and Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus. The team has been playing since 1930, having joined Division I along with the rest of the conference in 1980.
The Norfolk State Spartans baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The team competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I and is a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC). Through the 2022 season, the Spartans had competed in the school's full-time home of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), but after that season, the MEAC merged its baseball league into that of the NEC. Norfolk State and the three other MEAC members that sponsored baseball became NEC associate members in that sport.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament was the conference baseball championship of the NCAA Division I Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. In its final edition in 2022, all four MEAC baseball teams participated in the double elimination tournament at Marty L. Miller Field in Norfolk, Virginia. The winner of the tournament received an automatic berth to the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The automatic bid was granted beginning in 1994.
The 2012 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 17 and ended on May 20, 2012, at Marty L. Miller Field, on the campus of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, VA. It is an eight-team double elimination tournament. Bethune-Cookman won the tournament, as they have done every year but one since the tournament began in 1999. The Wildcats claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
Mervyl S. Melendez is a Puerto Rican baseball coach and former third base and as a relief pitcher. He played college baseball for the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats from 1993–1996. He then served as the head coach of Bethune-Cookman (2000–2011), the Alabama State Hornets (2012–2016) and the FIU Panthers (2017–2022).
The 2013 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 15 and ended on May 19, 2013 at Marty L. Miller Field, on the campus of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, VA. It was an eight-team double elimination tournament. South Division top seed Savannah State won their first tournament championship to claim the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. The Tigers defeated Bethune-Cookman, who had claimed thirteen of the fourteen tournament championships, with North Carolina A&T winning the other.
The 2014 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 14 and ended on May 19, 2014 at Marty L. Miller Field, on the campus of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, VA. It was an eight-team double elimination tournament. Bethune-Cookman won their fourteenth tournament championship to claim the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Bethune-Cookman has claimed fourteen of the sixteen tournament championships, with Savannah State winning in 2013 and North Carolina A&T earning the 2005 title.
The 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 15 and ended on May 18, 2019 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, FL. It was a six-team double elimination tournament. The winner, Florida A&M, claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Bethune-Cookman had claimed sixteen of the prior twenty tournament championships, with North Carolina A&T earning the 2005 and 2018 titles, Florida A&M winning in 2015, and Savannah State in 2013.
The 2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 18 and ended on May 21, 2011 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was a six-team double elimination tournament. Bethune-Cookman won the tournament, as they have done each year but one since the tournament began in 1999. The Wildcats claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
The 2019–20 Bethune–Cookman Wildcats men's basketball team represent Bethune–Cookman University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by 3rd-year head coach Ryan Ridder, play their home games at Moore Gymnasium in Daytona Beach, Florida as members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
The 2010 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 20 and ended on May 23, 2010 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was a six-team double elimination tournament. Bethune-Cookman won the tournament, as they have done each year but one since the tournament began in 1999. The Wildcats claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
The 2009 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 14 and ended on May 17, 2009 at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was a six-team double elimination tournament. Bethune-Cookman won the tournament, as they have done each year but one since the tournament began in 1999. The Wildcats claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
The 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 15 and ended on May 17, 2008, at Marty L. Miller Field, on the campus of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia. It was a six-team double elimination tournament. Bethune-Cookman won the tournament, as they have done each year but one since the tournament began in 1999. The Wildcats claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
The 2007 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 17 and ended on May 20, 2007 at Marty L. Miller Field, on the campus of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia. It was a six-team double elimination tournament. Bethune-Cookman won the tournament, as they have done each year but one since 1999. The Wildcats claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
The 2006 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 18 and ended on May 21, 2006 at Marty L. Miller Field, on the campus of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia. It was a six-team double elimination tournament. Bethune-Cookman won the tournament, as they have done each year but one since 1999. The Wildcats claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
The 2021 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament began on May 20 and ended on May 22, 2021 at Marty L. Miller Field on the campus of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia. It was a six-team double elimination tournament. Norfolk State won the tournament for the first time and claimed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Departing member Bethune-Cookman, which opted out of baseball competition for 2021, had claimed sixteen of the prior twenty-one tournament championships, with North Carolina A&T earning the 2005 and 2018 titles, Florida A&M winning in 2015 and 2019, and Savannah State in 2013.
The 2021 Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football team represented Bethune–Cookman University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at Daytona Stadium in Daytona Beach, Florida, and competed in the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). They were led by sixth-year head coach Terry Sims.
