Alabama State and Albany State hold leads in large and small school baseball poll for fourth straight week.
Alabama State University holds on to its No. 1 ranking for the fourth 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 May 2, 2023.
The Hornets of Alabama State, 30-15 overall and 18-3 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), continue to receive votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division I Poll as well.
Texas Southern jumps from No. 4 and into the No. 2 position this week, while Grambling State moves up from the No. 5 spot to No. 3 and just edges out both Florida A&M (now No. 4) and Jackson State (now No. 5). Not far behind, but dropping from No. 3, is Bethune Cookman at No. 6.
North Carolina A&T, Prairie View A&M and Southern University hold steady from last week at No. 7, No. 8 and No. 9, respectively in the large school poll, while the University of Maryland Eastern Shore re-enters the poll at No. 10.
Like Alabama State in the large school division, Albany State also retains its top spot in the small school division of Black College Nines Top 10 Poll. The Golden Rams are currently enjoying a 10 game winning streak and stand at 33-8 overall and lead the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) with a 30-2 record.
Savannah State, Talladega College and West Virginia State hold steady from last week at No.2, No. 3 and No.4 respectively. Edward Waters University moves up one spot into the No. 5 position and making the jump from No. 10 last week is Bluefield State, moving up to No.6. The remaining four poll spots rank Paine College at No. 7, Rust College at No. 8, Wiley College at No.9 and Miles College 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 April 30th.
The two divisional polls are as follows…
Large School Poll
| Rank | School | Current Record | Winning Pct. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama State University | 30-15 | 0.667 | 1 | |
| Bethune Cookman University | 21-20 | 0.512 | 6 | |
| Florida A&M University | 21-21 | 0.500 | 4 | |
| Grambling State University | 21-21 | 0.500 | 3 | |
| Jackson State University | 23-18 | 0.561 | 5 | |
| University of Maryland Eastern Shore | 15-27 | 0.357 | 10 | |
| North Carolina A&T University | 17-25 | 0.425 | 7 | |
| Prairie View A&M | 17-26 | 0.395 | 8 | |
| Southern University | 14-24 | 0.368 | 9 | |
| Texas Southern University | 27-16 | 0.628 | 2 |
Small School Poll
| Rank | School | Current Record | Winning Pct. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany State University | 33-8 | 0.805 | 1 | |
| Bluefield State College | 24-23 | 0.511 | 6 | |
| Edward Waters University | 23-20 | 0.535 | 5 | |
| Miles College | 22-22 | 0.500 | 10 | |
| Paine College | 14-13 | 0.519 | 7 | |
| Rust College | 23-23 | 0.500 | 8 | |
| Savannah State | 29-10 | 0.744 | 2 | |
| Talladega College | 27-16 | 0.628 | 3 | |
| West Virginia State University | 27-17 | 0.614 | 4 | |
| Wiley College | 21-20 | 0.512 | 9 |
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.