For N.C. A&T’s football team, their final season in the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference (MEAC) is shaping to be a brief one. 

After Norfolk State University (NSU) decided to opt-out of their four-game schedule due to COVID-19 concerns that leave the Aggies with a home and away game vs South Carolina State.

NSU head coach Latrell Scott attributed a few COVID-19 cases and the lack of time to prepare for their schedule as a reason why they have opted out. 

“I just couldn’t see, as a head coach, the reality of me putting together a team on the field without having adequate time to practice and prepare for the season,” Scott said via the Virginian Pilot.

Norfolk State was supposed to go on the road on March 6 to face the Aggies in the newly named Truist Stadium. They were then supposed to host the Aggies on April 3 in Norfolk, two weeks before the date of the MEAC championship game that is currently scheduled for April 17. As of now, the possibility of that game still happening is in question. 

Norfolk State joins N.C. Central, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman as teams that have opted out of the MEAC 2021 spring football season.

As previously mentioned the Aggies are leaving the MEAC this summer as they will be joining the Big South. The Aggies are the three-time defending MEAC champions and it is entirely possible that they will leave the conference without being able to defend their championship.