The problem for A&T is that this wasn\u2019t an isolated mismatch \u2014 this has been the story of their CAA tenure. And every time it happens, a familiar chorus rises from around the HBCU landscape:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey need to go back to the MEAC.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t subscribe to that \u2014 and never have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s be clear: North Carolina A&T didn\u2019t stumble into the CAA. Hampton didn\u2019t either. These weren\u2019t rogue-AD decisions. These were presidential<\/em> decisions \u2014 Dr. William Harvey at Hampton and Chancellor Harold L. Martin at A&T \u2014 based on their strategic visions for the entire institution, not just football. North Carolina A&T has two<\/em> CAA wins to date, both this season. If the Aggies lose the finale to Elon, they\u2019ll finish with their third straight season of one or two wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NC A&T is struggling defensively. It hasn’t had a 100-yard rusher all season \u2014 something that hasn’t happened since 2004. Their quarterback play is developing in real time. Eight straight starts for Kevin White. Freshman Nelson Layne showing flashes. One 100-yard receiving game from Jayvonne Dillard. A kicker \u2014 Andrew Brown \u2014 who is legitimately elite, with three field goals over 50 yards against Monmouth. Every time A&T gives up 50, 60, 63\u2026 there\u2019s a certain segment of the HBCU world waiting to laugh. And I get it \u2014 I\u2019m a Winston-Salem State guy. If anybody loves a good North Carolina A&T jab when I see one, it\u2019s me. If A&T\u2019s struggles mean they should come home, what does that say about how people view the MEAC? These decisions were made at the highest level. Both schools aligned themselves with different institutions, different resources, different competitive realities. That path comes with costs \u2014 competitive, cultural, and emotional. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Another big loss by North Carolina A&T brings familiar remarks about ‘going back to the MEAC.’ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ml_titleColor":"#000000","_ml_titleFont":"Roboto","_ml_titleFontSize":1.136,"_ml_titleFontWeight":"400","_ml_titleLineHeight":1.3,"_ml_metaColor":"#708090","_ml_metaFont":"Montserrat","_ml_metaFontSize":0.6785,"_ml_metaFontWeight":"400","_ml_metaLineHeight":0.92,"_ml_bodyColor":"#a9a9a9","_ml_bodyFont":"Open Sans","_ml_bodyFontSize":0.85,"_ml_bodyFontWeight":"400","_ml_bodyLineHeight":1.2,"_ml_wooPriceColor":"#666","_ml_wooPriceFont":"Open Sans","_ml_wooPriceFontSize":0.9,"_ml_wooPriceFontWeight":"400","_ml_wooPriceLineHeight":1.27,"_ml_headingColor":"#000","_ml_headingFont":"Merriweather","_ml_headingFontSize":2.02,"_ml_headingFontWeight":"700","_ml_headingLineHeight":1.47,"_mlglobal_userfontcolors":{"headingColorUser":[],"titleColorUser":[],"metaColorUser":[],"bodyColorUser":[],"wooPriceColorUser":[]},"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[573635379,573631773,573627743,573627535,573627665],"tags":[573627544,573627534,811699],"class_list":["post-154589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2025-hbcu-football","category-colonial-athletic-association","category-hampton","category-football","category-north-carolina-at","tag-featured","tag-hbcusports","tag-meac"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA&T\u2019s Struggles Aren\u2019t an Accident \u2014 They\u2019re a Consequence of Strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Whether people agree with those visions is another conversation entirely.
But the moves \u2014 as well as the one to leave for the Big South initially \u2014 were made intentionally, not emotionally.
And they weren\u2019t made solely<\/em> for athletics. They were made for political positioning, perceived academic alignment, visibility, fundraising opportunities, enrollment strategy \u2014 a whole host of institutional factors that don\u2019t fit neatly into the Saturday scoreboard discourse.
But because football is the front porch, football is where the critique lands hardest.<\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hbcugameday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/NCATSCSUsquareOff1.jpg?w=1024\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
The CAA Is Brutally Unforgiving \u2014 And North Carolina A&T Is Learning That in Real Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
These are bright spots in a season filled mostly with growing pains.
And yet \u2014 this is the price of choosing the PWI-conference path.
This is the terrain North Carolina A&T leadership chose to walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe HBCU Backlash Is Real \u2014 But Also Reveals Something Deeper<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
But the joy isn\u2019t just rivalry.
It\u2019s resentment.
It\u2019s \u201cjilted lover\u201d syndrome by people who felt abandoned when the largest HBCU left the MEAC \u2014 especially while it was dominating the conference.
Yet the \u201cgo back to the MEAC\u201d refrain misses an important point:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That it\u2019s the \u201csafe place?\u201d
The \u201csoft landing?\u201d
The league to go to when you can\u2019t survive elsewhere?
That\u2019s not fair to the MEAC. And it\u2019s not accurate.
North Carolina Central was one of the four schools that put 60 on North Carolina A&T. Other HBCUs have, too. The idea that A&T would automatically thrive again in the MEAC is nostalgia \u2014 not reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNorth Carolina A&T (and Hampton Chose) This Road \u2014 And They Must Own It<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
But it\u2019s their path.
The Aggies don\u2019t need to \u201ccome back home.\u201d They need to recruit, stabilize, invest, and build a roster that can compete in the CAA \u2014 the conference their leadership chose.
North Carolina A&T may get there. It may not.
But either way, the MEAC shouldn\u2019t be the punchline to A&T\u2019s struggles. And North Carolina A&T shouldn\u2019t be expected to reverse its institutional strategy because football hit turbulence.
They are where the leadership wanted to be.
Now we wait to see whether they can rise to meet it. It’s a challenge that the largest HBCU in America should be up for. But only time will tell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n