The MEAC, very simply, shapes up like this. With SC State falling to Howard and Morgan St falling to Norfolk St this past Saturday there are now four teams still in contention for the MEAC title - Bethune-Cookman, Hampton, Howard and Florida A&M (listed in order of the extent to which each controls its own destiny). Its all so very simple. It goes like this. Hampton beat Howard, who beat FAMU, who beat Hampton, who beat BCC. As a result, BCC needs to win their last two to clinch. Aside from winning out, Hampton needs BCC to lose, Howard needs Hampton to lose and FAMU needs Hampton and Howard to lose. The reason FAMU needs both Hampton and Howard to lose is to avoid the dreaded 3-way tie where all the teams has a loss to one of the other two. This would give the title to Hampton under the MEAC's tie-breaking formula by virtue of points. This coming weekend Howard plays BCC and the week after that FAMU plays BCC. Hampton has games with North Carolina A&T and Morgan State. Go it? If not, feel free to read this as many times as it takes. Ready? Good. Here are the picks...

GAME OF THE WEEK: Howard @ Bethune-Cookman:
To everyone's surprise, this game has major championship implications now. With last weekend's disappointed blowout loss at Hampton Bethune-Cookman finds themselves in a must win situation vs the Bison. At 5-1 in the conference they now have Hampton, FAMU and Howard breathing down their neck waiting for the chance to overtake them. Howard's chance arrived with last weeks results as they rolled to a 23-9 decision to eliminate S Carolina State from contention while Hampton was pulling BCC back toward to pack. A win in Daytona Beach would give Howard a tie for first place with a head-to-head advantage over both the Wildcats and FAMU. The Bison would only need to finish strongly vs last place Delaware St and a loss by Hampton on one of their last two games (at NCA&T and vs Morgan St) to clinch their first conference title since 1993. If BCC loses they face a bleak tie-breaking picture. Add to that the fact that FAMU desperately needs a Howard loss and its clear that this game is huge for a lot of people.

The big question for this game is the status of Wildcat Jr QB Allen Suber, who missed the Hampton game with a foot/ankle injury. Without their All-American at the helm the Wildcats struggled big time offensively all day long. Neither backup was able to generate any offensive consistency. This has BCC fans hoping for a Suber comeback against the surging Bison. "Suber is our offense. Anyone who didn't know that found out today," said BCC Head Coach Alvin "Shine" Wyatt following the game. Howard, in the meantime, had their second consecutive dominating performance on both sides of the ball in Orangeburg, SC as they used their running game to hold the ball for more than 43 minutes to put the Bulldogs away. Jay Colbert, for the 3rd consecutive week, ran for a career high as he carried the load to the tune of 40 rushes for 182 yards. "This is what I envisioned the offense doing all along," Petty said. In yet another strange quirk this season, Howard attempts its first FG of the season successfully when punter and backup place-kicker Vaughn Waters connected from 23 yards out.

With the conference title on the line I expect Suber to try to give it a go this week. But will an injured Suber be enough?

Prediction: Howard by 3.

North Carolina A&T @ Hampton:
This is a dangerous game for the Pirates. They are fresh off a shocking blowout 37-7 victory over Bethune-Cookman and Coach Joe Taylor must now guard against the dreaded LETDOWN as the rebuilding Aggies come to town. For their part, the Aggies we able to pull of a surprisingly easy blowout of their own over Delaware St, leaving Dover, DE with a 34-7 decision. They now face an enigmatic Pirate team. Which Hampton will show up for this one? Will it be the juggernaut that dismantled the front-running Wildcats or will it be the team that fell flat on the road in Tallahassee two weeks before? It may not matter because as bad as the Pirates have fluctuated at times this season the Aggies have been even more erratic and the youth of their roster really shows at times. In my estimation the, as much it will hurt my Bison's chances, I think the Pirates at home will be too much for the struggling Aggies to overcome.

Prediction: Hampton by 10

Morgan St @ S Carolina St:
Before last week the Donald Hill-Eley's Morgan St Bears were the hottest and most surprising team in the MEAC. They steamed in the Norfolk, VA on an impressive 4 game win streak having won 5 of the previous six, including wins over N Carolina A&T and Howard at their respective homecomings in consecutive weeks. Suddenly, they were (dare I say it?) conference contenders. Rolling. But a funny thing happened in the 4th quarter in Norfolk. The Spartans responded to 14-point deficit with 17 unanswered points to apply a wet blanket the Bears late season fun. Howard fans rejoiced at news as they saw their Bison also eliminate the Bears upcoming opponent, the SC State Bulldogs. The Dogs have seen their fortunes turn for the worse as well, losing two in a row after appearing poised for a title following their overtime defeat of Hampton at home. Now both teams are playing for pride and chance to prove that it wasn't all a fluke. This game still has serious ramifications in the event of a 3-way tie at the top of the conference. Where these teams finish in the final standings could very determine this year's champ.

For their part, the Bears come in with their offense in tact for the most part. An injury to starting QB Bradshaw "The Big Show" Littlejohn was a blow but his absence has been compensated for by the play of do-everything tailback TJ Stallings. Backup QB Lejomonick Washington has played much better in relief lately and the success of the running game has been of great benefit to him. Meanwhile the Bulldog offense ground to a halt last week vs the Bison in a performance that had Coach Pough admitting that he didn't know what his next move would be. That's what I call "a bad sign". However, it remains to be seen how the Bears will respond to their surprising elimination last week. Will they come out fighting or pack it in for the year on the road? I think they'll fight, but I also think they'll lose.

Prediction: SC State by 2

Delaware St @ Norfolk St:
DSU is a hard team to figure out. They can beat SC State but can barely keep themselves from being shoved out of the back of the endzone by N Carolina A&T at home. How do you pick a team like that? You don't.

Prediction: NSU by 3

-ep (Eric Peoples)