Savannah State back on top in this week’s “small school” poll while Prairie View jumps into the lead in “large school”poll.
For the first time in program’s history, Prairie View A&M claims the top spot in Black College Nines’ HBCU large school top 10 regular season baseball poll announced on April 27, 2022.
The Panthers have won eight of its last ten ball games including a weekend sweep over conference rival the University of Arkansas – Pine Bluff.
Alabama State falls out of the top spot to No. 2, while both Bethune-Cookman and Jackson State retains last week’s No. 3 and No. 4 rankings. Grambling State moves from No. 8 to No. 5 and Texas Southern remains No. 6. The rest of the large school Top 10 looks like this: Florida A&M drops 2 spots to No. 7, Coppin State moves up 2 spots to No. 8, Delaware State drops down from No. 7 to No. 9, and after being rank No. 9 in last week’s poll, Southern University rounds out the large school poll at No. 10.
Savannah State reclaims the top spot for the second time this season in the BCN small school Top 10. The No. 1 Tigers had an impressive win defeating Albany State two out of three games last weekend in the battle for first place in the SIAC. Albany State is No. 2 for the third time this season and Mile College stayed at No. 3.
Changes from last week’s HBCU Baseball Top 10 small school poll include Paine College moving up one spot to No. 4 and Rust College jump to No. 5. Florida Memorial falls to No. 6, Edward Waters University and West Virginia State both flip-flop spots to No. 7 and No. 8 respectfully, Kentucky State retains the No. 9 ranking and the preseason top pick, Bluefield State, climbs back into the poll at No. 10.
The small school Top 10 poll will have national implications throughout the 2022 regular season which will lead to HBCU baseball programs competing for a national title in the second annual Black College World Series scheduled for May 10-15, 2022, at Riverwalk Stadium (home of the Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate Montgomery Biscuits) in Montgomery, Alabama.
Black College Nines HBCU Baseball Ranking Committee determines the Top 10 rankings for both large schools and small schools.
Records indicated are through April 24th.
The two divisional polls are as follows…
Large School Poll
| Rank | School | Won | Lost | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama State (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 1-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 1 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 1/7.10 | 21 | 16 | 2 | |
| Bethune Cookman University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 2-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 3 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 3/6.71 | 18 | 21 | 3 | |
| Coppin State University (MEAC) Record Since Last Poll: 3-1 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 10 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 10/5.76 | 18 | 23 | 8 | |
| Delaware State University (MEAC) Record Since Last Poll: 1-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 7 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 11/5.74 | 15 | 19 | 9 | |
| Florida A&M University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 2-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 5 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 4/6.66 | 18 | 23 | 7 | |
| Grambling State University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 3-1 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 8 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 5/6.49 | 18 | 21 | 5 | |
| Jackson State University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 1-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 4 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 9/6.28 | 19 | 20 | 4 | |
| Prairie View A&M (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 3-1 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 2 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 7/6.33 | 22 | 17 | 1 | |
| Southern University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 1-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 9 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 6/6.40 | 13 | 25 | 10 | |
| Texas Southern University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 2-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 6 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 8/6.31 | 18 | 20 | 6 |
Also receiving multiple votes: Mississippi Valley State, North Carolina A&T, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore
Small School Poll
| Rank | School | Won | Lost | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany State University (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 1-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 1 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 1/6.42 | 25 | 10 | 2 | |
| Bluefield State College (Independent) Record Since Last Poll: 6-1 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank/Rating: 6/5.58 | 20 | 24 | 10 | |
| Edward Waters College (GCAC) Record Since Last Poll: 3-1 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 8 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 8/5.38 | 23 | 22 | 7 | |
| Florida Memorial University (SUN) Record Since Last Poll: 1-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 4 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 3/6.14 | 22 | 19 | 6 | |
| Kentucky State University (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 1-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 9 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 9/5.19 | 18 | 19 | 9 | |
| Miles College (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 2-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 3 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 5/5.63 | 23 | 17 | 3 | |
| Paine College (NCCAA) Record Since Last Poll: 2-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 5 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 14/4.64 | 18 | 14 | 4 | |
| Rust College (GCAC) Record Since Last Poll: 2-0 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 6 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 19/4.29 | 16 | 13 | 5 | |
| Savannah State (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 2-1 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 2 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 2/6.37 | 30 | 10 | 1 | |
| West Virginia State University (MEC) Record Since Last Poll: 3-1 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 7 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 4/5.89 | 20 | 17 | 8 |
Also receiving multiple votes: Clark Atlanta University, Harris-Stowe State, Lincoln College, Talladega College, Xavier University of Louisiana
The large school and small school rankings/ratings used above are provided to us courtesy of Massey Ratings. A detailed explanation of Kenneth Massey’s ratings can be found here.
2022 Poll Dates (with links to poll results):
Pre-Season
Week 1 (March 9, 2022)
Week 2 (March 23, 2022)
Week 3 (April 6, 2022)
Week 4 (April 20, 2022)
Week 5 (April 27, 2022)
Week 6 (May 4, 2022)
Week 7 (May 11, 2022)
Week 8 (May 18, 2022)
Week 9 (May 25, 2021)
Week 10 (June 1, 2022)
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 17 HBCU schools representing NCAA Division I and a “small school” division made up of the 30 HBCU schools with NCAA Division II, NAIA and NCCAA status.