Bethune-Cookman in the “large school” division and Albany State in the “small school” division head Black College Nines’ first regular season top 10 polls of 2026.
Bethune-Cookman University tops the rankings in the first edition of the Black College Nines Historically Black College and University regular season Top 10 baseball poll for the large school division, as announced on March 12, 2025.
The defending large school champion Wildcats opened the season going 10-6, including a ninth inning rally against Florida Gulf Coast University (which had a record of 12-3 at that time) for a 9-8 victory. Last year’s number three team, Alabama State, is ranked second and last year’s number two team, Florida A&M, swaps positions with the ASU Hornets and comes in at number three. Jackson State, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Texas Southern, Southern University, North Carolina A&T and Prairie View A&M are all included in this first large school poll and all six finished in the final top ten poll of 2025. The new entry in the 2026 poll is number eight Alabama A&M.
In the small school division, which includes NCAA Division II schools as well as those affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) and United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), Albany State University claims the top spot beginning the season with a 13-7 record. The Golden Rams, representing the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), have displayed consistent pitching and hitting.
Last year’s number ten team in in the 2025 small school poll, Florida Memorial University, is ranked second in the first poll of 2026 followed by Savannah State University. A new entry in the polls and possibly for the first time in Black College Nines ranking history is Huston-Tillotson University which ranks number four with a 14-12 record. Also possibly entering the rankings for the first time is Wilberforce University which is ranked ninth. Familiar names often ranked in the top ten in past years and included in the first poll of 2026 are Miles College (ranked fifth), Benedict College (ranked sixth), Edward Waters University (ranked seventh), Talladega College (ranked eighth) and Wiley University (ranked tenth).
Black College Nines HBCU Baseball Ranking Committee determines the Top 10 rankings for both large schools and small schools.
Records indicated are through March 8th.
The two divisional polls are as follows…
Large School Poll
| Rank | School | Current Record | Winning Pct. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama A&M (SWAC) | 5-12 | 0.294 | 8 | |
| Alabama State University (SWAC) | 8-7 | 0.533 | 2 | |
| Arkansas Pine-Bluff University (SWAC) | 5-12 | 0.294 | 5 | |
| Bethune Cookman University (SWAC) | 10-6 | 0.625 | 1 | |
| Florida A&M University (SWAC) | 5-10 | 0.333 | 3 | |
| Jackson State University (SWAC) | 9-8 | 0.529 | 4 | |
| North Carolina A&T University (CAA) | 3-12 | 0.200 | 9 | |
| Prairie View A&M (SWAC) | 4-10 | 0.286 | 10 | |
| Southern University (SWAC) | 4-11 | 0.267 | 7 | |
| Texas Southern University (SWAC) | 5-5 | 0.500 | 6 |
Receiving Votes: Grambling State University, Mississippi Valley State University
Small School Poll
| Rank | School | Current Record | Winning Pct. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany State University (SIAC) | 13-7 | 0.650 | 1 | |
| Benedict College (SIAC) | 9-5 | 0.643 | 6 | |
| Edward Waters University (SIAC) | 11-11 | 0.500 | 7 | |
| Florida Memorial University (SUN) | 13-6 | 0.684 | 2 | |
| Huston-Tillotson University (HBCUAC) | 14-12 | 0.538 | 4 | |
| Miles College (SIAC) | 15-4 | 0.789 | 5 | |
| Savannah State (SIAC) | 11-9 | 0.550 | 3 | |
| Talladega College (HBCUAC) | 6-12 | 0.333 | 8 | |
| Wilberforce University (HBCUAC) | 8-5 | 0.615 | 9 | |
| Wiley University (HBCUAC) | 9-11 | 0.450 | 10 |
Receiving Votes: Morehouse College, Southern University at New Orleans, West Virginia State University
2026 Poll Dates (with links to poll results):
Week 1 (March 11 , 2026)
Week 2 (March 25, 2026)
Week 3 (TBA)
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 are named in two divisions… the “large school” division which is composed of the 17 HBCU schools representing NCAA Division I and a “small school” division made up of the 38 HBCU schools with NCAA Division II, NAIA NCCAA and USCAA status.