Southern University, the reigning Historically Black College and University (HBCU) National Champions, opens the 2020 HBCU Baseball Large School Pre-Season Baseball Poll ranked number one in hopes to defend its national title.
Our Black College Nines (BCN) polling committee has picked the Jaguars as the favorite to win the title as its top-ranked team. This selection represents the first time Southern has taken the publication’s preseason top spot, reinforcing its claim as the best squad in HBCU Baseball.
Southern University, one of five Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) teams in the top ten, is joined by No. 3 Alabama State University, No. 4 Jackson State University, No. 5 Grambling State University, and No. 10 Texas Southern University.
North Carolina A&T University begins the season ranked No. 2 and is one of five Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) teams in the preseason top 10 poll. Other conference members include No. 6 Bethune-Cookman University, No. 7 Florida A&M University, No. 8 Norfolk State University, and No. 9 Coppin State University all from the large school division representing NCAA Division I baseball programs.
Albany State University sits as the No. 1 team in the HBCU Baseball Pre-Season Small School Poll this year. The Golden Rams ballclub was the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) regular season champion and finished second in the conference tournament, but with key position players returning, the coaching staff is extremely excited about this year’s team and are now looking forward to the spring championship season.
The rest of the small school poll, made up of NCAA Division II, NAIA, and USCAA schools, includes No. 2 Jarvis Christian College, No. 3 Claflin University, No. 4 Miles College, tied for the No. 5 spot are Talladega College and Kentucky State University, No. 7 Florida Memorial University, No. 8 Savannah State University, No. 9 Texas College and No. 10 Edward Waters College.
Black College Nines is dedicated to preserving the tradition of baseball at historically black colleges and universities with our coverage of HBCU baseball.
Large School Poll
Small School Poll
2020 Poll Dates (with links to poll results):
Pre-Season
Week 1 (March 10, 2020)
Week 2 (March 24, 2020)
Week 3 (April 7, 2020)
Week 4 (April 21, 2020)
Week 5 (April 28, 2020)
Week 6 (May 5, 2020)
Week 7 (May 12, 2020)
Week 8 (May 19, 2020)
Week 9 (May 26, 2020)*
*Final Poll
The voting committee is made up of an informed and impartial group of individuals who follow college baseball on all levels, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) baseball. Included in the group are college athletic administrators and educators, college baseball writers and other sports journalists and broadcasters, former HBCU and other college ballplayers and above all else… college baseball enthusiasts who have an interest in promoting HBCU baseball.
As the college baseball season concludes, champions will be named in two divisions… the “large school” division will be composed of the 18 HBCU schools representing NCAA Division I and a “small school” division made up of the 29 HBCU schools with NCAA Division II, Division III, NAIA and independent status.
The crowning of Black College Nines National Champions will be announced on Tuesday, May 26th, 2020 on the Black College Nines’ website, Twitter and Facebook pages.
As much as I hate to admit this, our SU Baseball squad probably should not be ranked this highly. We had a senior laden team last season & only one (1) everyday player returns this season. Granted there is a deep pool of very talented incoming players but they have not proven themselves as yet at the collegiate level. The speed of the game is exponentially different than high school so there will be a learning curve. That being said I expect us to start with plenty of hiccups as the young class learn the college game and get acclimated.
Lastly, it is my opinion that Texas Southern is ranked far lower than they should be. They will give up a mountain of offense opening weekend just as they did last year but will round into form once league play starts.
Go Jags!!
Texas Southern team has been revamped from last year. They are surprise team. Mark it down.
Might wanna put Harris Stowe on that list Currently 6-2 and can bang it out with any HBCU small or large school. Won 6 games with only half of their starters on the field.
A range of considerations were given voters including incoming freshman and transfers. Prairie View’s were indicated on our recent large school team-by-team preview post.
Why is PV not in the top 10??? Seems like you only looked at the past and not at the incoming freshman because some of those schools lost players but didn’t gain much coming in… just saying