Jackson State and Albany State top the first “large school” and “small school”baseball polls of 2023.
Jackson State University tops the first edition of our Historically Black College and University (HBCU) regular season Top 10 baseball poll in the large school division as announced by Black College Nines (BCN) on March 7, 2023, as we continue our tradition of HBCU Baseball large school and small school polls with its rankings.
The Tigers, who began the year ranked No. 8 in the BCN Preseason Top 10 have won games with pitching and hitting. After a 5-0 week, JSU is on a nine-game winning streak after sweeping SWAC foe Alcorn State in their three-game weekend games series to improve to 11-2 received the most first-place votes and total points in the “large school” division which is made up of NCAA Division I baseball programs.
Bethune Cookman ranks No. 2 for the first poll, with the two schools from the state of Alabama first time in history ranked in the same HBCU poll, Alabama State and Alabama A&M and Texas Southern rounding out the top five. The ranking has Florida A&M at No. 6. North Carolina A&T entrant into the Top 10 at No. 7 followed by No. 8 Southern, No. 9 Mississippi Valley State and Prairie View A&M rounding out the Top 10.
Albany State grabs the top spot in the “small school” division, made up of NCAA Division II schools as well as those in the NAIA and NCCAA. The Golden Rams since the start of the season, from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), has had solid pitching building a 11-2 record and enters the HBCU Baseball No 1 spot on a ten-game winning streak.
The following small school top 10 poll includes No. 2 Savannah State, No. 3 Stillman first time in the poll since the 2017 season, No. 4 Talladega, and preseason top pick and Black College World Series champions Edward Waters No. 5. The remaining movers and shakers has Paine at No. 6, Virginia State No. 7, Miles No. 8, Benedict who only won five games last season enters at No. 9, followed by Bluefield State at No. 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 March 5th.
The two divisional polls are as follows…
Large School Poll
| Rank | School | Won | Lost | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama A&M (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 7-4 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 9 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 10 Current College Baseball Rankings Rank: 11 Composite Rank: 10 | 7 | 4 | 4 | |
| Alabama State (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 6-7 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 3 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 3 Current College Baseball Rankings Rank: 2 Composite Rank: 2.67 | 6 | 7 | 3 | |
| Bethune Cookman University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 8-4 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 1 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 2 Current College Baseball Rankings Rank: 4 Composite Rank: 2.33 | 8 | 4 | 2 | |
| Florida A&M University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 5-8 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 5 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 5 Current College Baseball Rankings Rank: 3 Composite Rank: 4.33 | 5 | 8 | 6 | |
| Jackson State University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 11-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 2 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 1 Current College Baseball Rankings Rank: 1 Composite Rank: 1.33 | 11 | 2 | 1 | |
| Mississippi Valley State University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 5-6 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 14 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 15 Current College Baseball Rankings Rank: 16 Composite Rank: 15 | 5 | 6 | 9 | |
| North Carolina A&T University (CAA) Record Since Last Poll: 5-6 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 10 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 6 Current College Baseball Rankings Rank: 5 Composite Rank: 7 | 5 | 6 | 8 | |
| Prairie View A&M (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 2-10 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 13 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 12 Current College Baseball Rankings Rank: 10 Composite Rank: 11.67 | 2 | 10 | 10 | |
| Southern University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 4-7 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 6 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 4 Current College Baseball Rankings Rank: 6 Composite Rank: 5.33 | 4 | 7 | 7 | |
| Texas Southern University (SWAC) Record Since Last Poll: 7-6 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 7 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 8 Current College Baseball Rankings Rank: 8 Composite Rank: 7.67 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
Small School Poll
| Rank | School | Won | Lost | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany State University (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 10-2 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 1 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 1 Composite Rank: 1 | 10 | 2 | 1 | |
| Benedict College (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 6-5 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 19 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 17 Composite Rank: 18 | 6 | 5 | 9 | |
| Bluefield State College (Independent) Record Since Last Poll: 8-9 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 7 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 8 Composite Rank: 7.5 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Edward Waters University (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 9-8 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 6 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 6 Composite Rank: 6 | 9 | 8 | 5 | |
| Miles College (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 8-8 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 5 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 5 Composite Rank: 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
| Paine College (NCCAA) Record Since Last Poll: 7-4 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 13 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 13 Composite Rank: 13 | 7 | 4 | 6 | |
| Savannah State (SIAC) Record Since Last Poll: 8-3 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 3 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 3 Composite Rank: 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | |
| Stillman College (SSAC) Record Since Last Poll: 8-4 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 10 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 10 Composite Rank: 10 | 8 | 4 | 3 | |
| Talladega College (SSAC) Record Since Last Poll: 9-8 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 2 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 2 Composite Rank: 2 | 9 | 8 | 4 | |
| Virginia State University (Independent) Record Since Last Poll: 7-6 Previous BCN Poll Rank: N/A Current Massey Rank: 16 Current Boyd Nation Rank: 11 Composite Rank: 13.5 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
The large school and small school rankings/ratings used above are provided to us courtesy of Massey Ratings and Boyd Nation’s Iterative Strength Ratings. A detailed explanation of Kenneth Massey’s ratings can be found here and an explanation of Boyd Nation’s Iterative Strength Ratings can be found here.
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 2, 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.