Morehouse College Evaluating Move to Division I

Morehouse College is exploring a move to NCAA Division I, according to football head coach Terance Mathis. Mathis is quoted by HBCU Gameday saying, “Yes, there has been talk about moving up, and we’re preparing ourselves for that. If that is the future of this program, we’ll be ready when it happens.” Morehouse is currently a member of the NCAA Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).

Morehouse, located in Atlanta, Georgia, would likely join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) if the move occurs. The MEAC has seen five programs leave since 2018 and currently sits at 8 full members and 6 football-playing members. Delaware State, Howard, Morgan State, Norfolk State, North Carolina Central, and South Carolina State have kept the MEAC afloat the past few years while Coppin State and Maryland Eastern Shore are the two full members that do not have a football team.

The most recent departures occurred in 2021 when Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M left to join the SWAC. When BCU and FAMU announced they were leaving in June 2020, Delaware State was heavily rumored to be fleeing the MEAC but ultimately remained in the conference. North Carolina A&T also left the MEAC in 2021 with the Aggies joining the Big South and later moving to the CAA in 2022 with football joining NCAT’s other sports in the CAA a year later in 2023. Hampton left the MEAC for the Big South in 2018 and ultimately ended up in the CAA beginning with the 2022 season. Two additional programs – Winston-Salem State in 2010 and Savannah State in 2018 – also left the MEAC before but offer different cautionary tales for any program looking to move up.

Winston-Salem State was accepted as a MEAC member in 2006 with the four-year reclassification process set to take place from 2006-07 through 2009-10. The Rams had been a member of the Central Intercollegiate Atheltic Association (CIAA) since 1945 and temporarily gave the MEAC 12 members. That attempt ended in 2009 when WSSU decided to return to Division II before completing the reclassification process and the then-Chancellor Donald J. Reaves cited rising athletic deficits for the return to the CIAA. WSSU saw revenues grow to $3.77 million while expenses were at $5.58 million.

Savannah State left the SIAC to move to Division I in 2000 and joined the MEAC in 2010 after a decade as a Division I/I-AA/FCS independent. They too ultimately returned to D-II with financial concerns being the main issue. The Tigers were readmitted to the SIAC in 2019. There’s also the story of Morris Brown College, which attempted a move from the SIAC to Division I starting in 2000 but the move was derailed following the school’s loss of accreditation leading the entire athletics program to be shuttered and putting the school’s existence in jeopardy.

Morehouse’s football team has an overall record of 56-75 since the 2010 season with four winning seasons in 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2018. The program went 2-18 over the previous two seasons and is on its third head coach in as many seasons with Mathis following Rich Freeman and Gerard Wilcher. A move to Division I would make the Howard-Morehouse rivalry an annual matchup with Howard holding a 28-10-2 lead in the all-time series. It would also provide the MEAC with a slight buffer to the minimum automatic qualifier requirement of 6 football-playing members. Whether the MEAC wishes to pursue enough members to institute a conference championship game like the SWAC remains to be seen but might play a consideration in which schools receive a future invite.

Photo Credit to Morehouse College Athletics