Alabama State and Albany State continue to hold leads in large and small school baseball poll.
Alabama State University holds on to its No. 1 ranking for the third week in a row in Black College Nines’ 2023 Historically Black College and University (HBCU) regular season baseball poll in the large school division announced on April 25, 2023.
The Hornets of Alabama State, 27-15 overall and 15-3 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), continue to receive votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division I Poll aw well.
Florida A&M leaps into the No. 2 rankings as Bethune Cookman falls one spot to the No.3 ranking in this week’s poll and Texas Southern remains in the No. 4 spot.
The only notable change in this week’s Top 10 large school poll has Grambling State flip-flopping to No. 5 with Jackson State dropping one spot to No. 6. The remaining HBCU baseball programs rounding out the top 10 are North Carolina A&T University, Prairie View A&M, Southern University, and Coppin State reenters the poll rankings for the second time this season at No. 10.
With national implications on the line in the small school Top 10 poll ranking and a deciding factor in selecting the HBCU baseball programs that will compete for a national title in the third annual Black College World Series scheduled for May 10-13, 2023, at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama, both Albany State and Savannah State maintain their holds on the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.
Talladega College moves up one spot to No. 3 while West Virginia State drops to No. 4. Rust College and Edward Waters reenter the poll at No. 5 and No. 6. Wiley retains the No. 7 spot from the previous week’s top national HBCU rankings and Paine College moves up two spots to No. 8. Miles College stays at No. 9, and Bluefield State comes in at No. 10 to round out the “small school” top 10.
The small school Top 10 poll will have national implications throughout the 2023 regular season which will lead to HBCU baseball programs competing for a national title in the third annual Black College World Series scheduled for May 10-13, 2023, 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 23rd.
The two divisional polls are as follows…
Large School Poll
| Rank | School | Current Record | Winning Pct. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama State University | 27-14 | 0.659 | 1 | |
| Bethune Cookman University | 20-18 | 0.526 | 3 | |
| Coppin State University | 13-25 | 0.342 | 10 | |
| Florida A&M University | 21-18 | 0.538 | 2 | |
| Grambling State University | 18-20 | 0.474 | 5 | |
| Jackson State University | 21-17 | 0.553 | 6 | |
| North Carolina A&T University | 17-22 | 0.472 | 7 | |
| Prairie View A&M | 16-23 | 0.410 | 8 | |
| Southern University | 13-21 | 0.382 | 9 | |
| Texas Southern University | 24-15 | 0.615 | 4 |
Small School Poll
| Rank | School | Current Record | Winning Pct. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany State University | 30-8 | 0.789 | 1 | |
| Bluefield State College | 22-23 | 0.489 | 10 | |
| Edward Waters University | 20-19 | 0.513 | 6 | |
| Miles College | 20-21 | 0.488 | 9 | |
| Paine College | 14-11 | 0.560 | 8 | |
| Rust College | 21-21 | 0.500 | 5 | |
| Savannah State | 26-10 | 0.722 | 2 | |
| Talladega College | 24-16 | 0.600 | 3 | |
| West Virginia State University | 23-16 | 0.590 | 4 | |
| Wiley College | 20-18 | 0.526 | 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.