Albany State jumps Savannah State in this week’s “small school” poll while Alabama State holds its lead in the “large school”poll.
Alabama State University remains the nation’s top HBCU baseball program for the third time this season in Black College Nines (BCN) Top 10 Historically Black College and University (HBCU) regular season baseball poll announced on April 20, 2022.
Prairie View A&M jumps to No. 2, Bethune-Cookman dropped to No. 3, Jackson State moves from 6 to No. 4, while Florida A&M retains the No. 5 spot. The remaining large school BCN HBCU rankings include Texas Southern, down from No. 3 to No. 6, Delaware State up two spots to No. 7, Grambling moves from No. 10 to No. 8, unranked Southern jumps to No. 9, and Coppin State closes out the large school poll at No. 10.
Albany State takes over at No. 1 for the first time in 2022. Savannah State, the previous top team, drops to No. 2 after being swept by Edward Waters.
Massive change occurred in the HBCU Baseball Top 10 small school poll. Moving up one spot from the previous poll ranking are both Miles College up from No. 4 to No. 3 and Florida Memorial which moved from No. 5 to No. 4. Paine College fell two spots to No. 5, Rust College jumped to No. 6, West Virginia State moves to No. 7 after previously being No. 9 and Edward Waters jumps into this week’s poll at No. 8 after sweeping former top ranked Savannah State last weekend. Rounding out the remaining HBCU rankings, Kentucky State fell one spot to No. 9 and previously ranked No. 7 Talladega rounds out the top 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 17th.
The two divisional polls are as follows…
Large School Poll
| Rank | School | Won | Lost | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama State (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 5-1 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 1 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 1/7.07 | 20 | 14 | 1 | |
| Bethune Cookman University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 3-4 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 2 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 3/6.78 | 16 | 19 | 3 | |
| Coppin State University (MEAC) Record Since Last Poll: 4-5 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 8 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 11/5.70 | 15 | 22 | 10 | |
| Delaware State University (MEAC) Record Since Last Poll: 5-4 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 9 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 10/5.82 | 14 | 16 | 7 | |
| Florida A&M University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 4-4 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 5 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 4/6.69 | 16 | 21 | 5 | |
| Grambling State University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 4-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 10 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 5/6.39 | 15 | 20 | 8 | |
| Jackson State University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 5-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 6 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 8/6.31 | 18 | 18 | 4 | |
| Prairie View A&M (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 8-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 4 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 9/6.29 | 21 | 17 | 2 | |
| Southern University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 3-4 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 7 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 6/6.37 | 12 | 22 | 9 | |
| Texas Southern University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 2-5 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 3 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 7/6.31 | 16 | 17 | 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: 6-1 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 2 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 1/6.57 | 24 | 8 | 1 | |
| Edward Waters College (GCAC) Record Since Last Poll: 5-4 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank/Rating: 7/5.57 | 20 | 21 | 8 | |
| Florida Memorial University (SUN) Record Since Last Poll: 4-1 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 5 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 3/6.15 | 21 | 16 | 4 | |
| Kentucky State University (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 2-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 8 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 9/5.21 | 17 | 17 | 9 | |
| Miles College (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 3-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 4 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 5/5.79 | 21 | 15 | 3 | |
| Paine College (NCCAA) Record Since Last Poll: 3-6 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 3 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 13/4.82 | 16 | 11 | 5 | |
| Rust College (GCAC) Record Since Last Poll: 4-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 10 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 20/4.21 | 14 | 13 | 6 | |
| Savannah State (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 4-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 1 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 2/6.38 | 28 | 9 | 2 | |
| Talladega College (SSAC) Record Since Last Poll: 0-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 7 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 6/5.58 | 17 | 19 | 10 | |
| West Virginia State University (MEC) Record Since Last Poll: 6-4 Previous BCN Poll Rank: 9 Current Massey Rank/Rating: 4/5.96 | 17 | 16 | 7 |
Also receiving multiple votes: Harris-Stowe State, Voorhees 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.