Alabama State holds lead in large school baseball poll for sixth straight week.
For the sixth straight week, Alabama State retains its hold on its No. 1 ranking in Black College Nines’ 2023 Historically Black College and University (HBCU) regular season baseball poll in the large school division announced on May 24, 2023.
Alabama State, 39-16 overall and 26-4 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), continues to receive votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division I Poll and enters as the No. 1 seed in the 2023 SWAC Baseball Conference Tournament opening play on Wednesday at 3 p.m. (EDT)/2 p.m. (CDT).
The remaining Top 10 “large school” poll has Bethune-Cookman remaining as the No. 2 ranked team this week followed by Grambling State, moving up a slot to No. 3 from the previous week No. 4. Also, Texas Southern jumps into the No. 4 spot from last week’s No. 5 ranking as Jackson State drops from No. 3 in the last poll to No. 5.
Rounding out the remaining Top 10 poll are, Florida A&M, Southern University, North Carolina A&T, and Coppin State, while Prairie View A&M reenters the poll rounding out the top 10 in the large school division.
The small school poll remains the same as last week and serves as the final poll of the season as all schools in this division have now completed their seasons… thus naming Florida Memorial University as Black College Nines’ National Champion. Recognition will be given next week when the large school final poll is announced.
Black College Nines HBCU Baseball Ranking Committee determines the Top 10 rankings for both large schools and small schools.
Records indicated are through May 21st.
The two divisional polls are as follows…
Large School Poll
| Rank | School | Current Record | Winning Pct. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama State University | 39-16 | 0.709 | 1 | |
| Bethune Cookman University | 29-25 | 0.537 | 2 | |
| Coppin State University | 21-31 | 0.404 | 9 | |
| Florida A&M University | 24-27 | 0.471 | 6 | |
| Grambling State University | 27-24 | 0.529 | 3 | |
| Jackson State University | 28-23 | 0.549 | 5 | |
| North Carolina A&T University | 19-34 | 0.404 | 8 | |
| Prairie View A&M | 19-35 | 0.352 | 10 | |
| Southern University | 22-26 | 0.458 | 7 | |
| Texas Southern University | 31-20 | 0.608 | 4 |
Small School Final Poll
| Rank | School | Current Record | Winning Pct. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany State University | 38-11 | 0.776 | 2 | |
| Bluefield State College | 25-25 | 0.500 | 6 | |
| Dillard University | 22-28 | 0.440 | 8 | |
| Edward Waters University | 26-24 | 0.520 | 5 | |
| Florida Memorial University | 21-24 | 0.467 | 1 | |
| Paine College | 15-15 | 0.500 | 10 | |
| Rust College | 25-25 | 0.500 | 9 | |
| Savannah State | 33-14 | 0.702 | 4 | |
| Talladega College | 28-18 | 0.609 | 3 | |
| West Virginia State University | 28-22 | 0.560 | 7 |
2023 Poll Dates (with links to poll results):
Pre-Season (1/10/23)
Week 1 (March 7, 2023)
Week 2 (March 21, 2023)
Week 3 (April 4, 2023)
Week 4 (April 18, 2023)
Week 5 (April 25, 2023)
Week 6 (May 2, 2023)
Week 7 (May 16, 2023)
Week 8 (May 23, 2023)
Week 9 (May 30, 2023)
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 35 HBCU schools with NCAA Division II, NAIA and NCCAA status.