Savannah State University on Monday continued its pursuit of joining the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference by playing host to a campus visit by members of the historically black NCAA Division I conference.

MEAC commissioner Dennis Thomas and four other conference representatives, whom he would not identify, met with members of SSU’s athletic department and toured the Tigers’ athletic facilities.

SSU could be accepted as a conference member when the MEAC holds its spring meetings May 23-26 in Virginia Beach, Va. Expansion is expected to be among the topics discussed.

“We just have to wait it out now,” SSU athletic director Robert “Tony” O’Neal said.

SSU paid the MEAC a $10,000 non-refundable application fee last year. The campus visit was the next step in the process.

“This is our normal process, a site visit,” Thomas said before returning to Virginia Beach, Va., Monday night. “It’s a beautiful campus. And that’s all I can say. It would not be appropriate to comment any further.”

SSU has competed as an NCAA Division I Independent since leaving the Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and moving to Division I (I-AA in football) in 2002. The Tigers are the only Division I-AA football team that is not a member of a conference.

For more info, check out the full article by Noell Barnidge.