At the conclusion of the 2021 season, history was made by two Historically Black College and University (HBCU) baseball programs.
Last season, Jackson State University earned its first HBCU national baseball title and will begin the season in the top spot in Black College Nines’ 2022 preseason “large school” poll.
The Tigers concluded last season overall 34-9, and 24-0 in the Southwest Athletic Conference (SWAC). One of only two NCAA Division I programs with single digit losses during the season topping each of BCN’s Top 10 regular season weekly polls in 2021.
The Tigers baseball program has earned respect. It has been one of the most successful HBCU baseball programs in the last 15 years by playing its way into the conference postseason tournament year after year.
JSU ranks ahead of No. 2 Alabama State University and No. 3 Southern University. Prairie View A&M University has garnered a preseason ranking of No. 4 and Florida A&M University, one of seven Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) teams in this year’s Top 10, is the No. 5 preseason pick.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) had two of its members ranked in the preseason poll ( Delaware State and Norfolk State), along with new Big South Conference member North Carolina A&T University, which is ranked 6th.
The large school division represents NCAA Division I baseball programs.
Bluefield State College, coming off a season that saw it win the inaugural Black College World Series, opens the 2022 season ranked No. 1 in Black College Nines’ “small school” 2022 HBCU preseason baseball poll. Big Blue went 4-1 in the tournament in Montgomery, Alabama to becoming the eventual HBCU Black College national champion.
Bluefield State returns much of that team, combining impressive talent, experience, and recruiting, and enters the season as the preseason top ranked HBCU baseball small school team in the country for the first time in program history.
In the small school division, made up of NCAA Division II schools as well as those in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), Xavier University of Louisiana is the preseason No. 2, followed by Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s No. 3 Savannah State University. From the Mountain East Conference is No. 4 West Virginia State University and another SIAC member Albany State University is preseason No. 5.
Black College Nines is dedicated to preserving the tradition of baseball at historically black colleges and universities with our coverage of HBCU baseball.
Staff selections for the two divisional preseason polls are as follows…
Large School Division
- Jackson State
- Alabama State
- Southern University
- Prairie View A&M
- Florida A&M
- North Carolina A&T
- Delaware State
- Norfolk State
- Grambling State
- Alabama A&M
Small School Division
- Bluefield State College
- Xavier University of Louisiana
- Savannah State
- West Virginia State
- Albany State
- Kentucky State
- Benedict College
- Miles College
- Florida Memorial University
- Tuskegee University
For a preview of the large school season click here
For a preview of the small school season click here
2022 Poll Dates (with links to poll results):
Pre-Season (1/27/22)
The voting committee during the 2022 season 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, will compete for a national title in the Black College World Series scheduled for May 10-15, 2022, in Montgomery, Alabama.