Florida A&M retains slight lead in the “large school” division while Bluefield State moves to the top in the “small school” division in Black College Nines’ seventh set of polls for the 2024 season.
For the second straight poll session, Florida A&M retains a very slight lead over in-state rival Bethune-Cookman University in Black College Nines’ seventh edition of its large school poll presented by Guardian Baseball and announced on May 15, 2024.
Alabama State and Jackson State each move up a spot from last poll and into the numbers three and four slots, while North Carolina A&T drops to number five this week. Texas Southern University retains its number six ranking while Lone Star State neighbor, Prairie View A&M jumps into the seventh position. Rounding out the large school top ten poll are Grambling State University, Delaware State University and Southern University.
In Black College Nines’ small school top ten poll, the recently crowned 2024 Black College World Series champion, Bluefield State University moves to the top of a very competitive list of ten NCAA Division II and NAIA schools. Series runner-up and NAIA post-season tournament-bound, Talladega College maintains the number two position, while Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) tournament champ Edward Waters University jumps from number six in the last poll, to number three this week. Albany State, which has held the top spot in the past five polls, drops to number four and SIAC’s representative to the NCAA Division II tournament, Savannah State remains at number five. West Virginia State, Wiley University, Florida Memorial University, Miles College and Jarvis Christian University complete this week’s small school top ten.
Black College Nines HBCU Baseball Ranking Committee determines the Top 10 rankings for both large schools and small schools. The Black College World Series winner and runner-up automatically claim the the top two spots in the final small school poll.
Records indicated are through May 12, 2024.
The two divisional polls are as follows…
Large School Poll
| Rank | School | Current Record | Winning Pct. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama State University | 26-24 | 0.520 | 3 | |
| Bethune Cookman University | 28-23 | 0.549 | 2 | |
| Delaware State University | 19-24 | 0.442 | 9 | |
| Florida A&M University | 25-24 | 0.510 | 1 | |
| Grambling State University | 20-25 | 0.444 | 8 | |
| Jackson State University | 31-18 | 0.633 | 4 | |
| North Carolina A&T University | 24-27 | 0.471 | 5 | |
| Prairie View A&M | 26-24 | 0.520 | 7 | |
| Southern University | 22-26 | 0.458 | 10 | |
| Texas Southern University | 21-22 | 0.488 | 6 |
Receiving Multiple Vote: Alabama A&M
Small School Poll
| Rank | School | Current Record | Winning Pct. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany State University | 37-12 | 0.755 | 4 | |
| Bluefield State University | 33-15 | 0.687 | 1 | |
| Edward Waters University | 31-19 | 0.620 | 3 | |
| Florida Memorial University | 21-26 | 0.447 | 8 | |
| Jarvis Christian University | 19-23 | 0.452 | 10 | |
| Miles College | 22-26 | 0.458 | 9 | |
| Savannah State | 31-15 | 0.674 | 5 | |
| Talladega College | 38-16 | 0.704 | 2 | |
| West Virginia State University | 31-20 | 0.608 | 6 | |
| Wiley University | 29-21 | 0.580 | 7 |
Receiving Multiple Votes: Huston-Tillotson, Kentucky State, Lane College, Morehouse College, Paine College, Xavier University of Louisiana
2024 Poll Dates (with links to poll results):
Pre-Season
Week 1 (March 6, 2024)
Week 2 (March 20, 2024)
Week 3 (April 3, 2024)
Week 4 (April 17, 2024)
Week 5 (April 24, 2024)
Week 6 (May 1, 2024)
Week 7 (May 15, 2024)
Week 8 (May 22, 2024)
Final Poll (May 29, 2024)
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 36 HBCU schools with NCAA Division II, NAIA and NCCAA status.