DI/DII/DIII/NAIA/Baseball
By Michael Coker/ Black College Nines
Black College Nines, a website dedicated to preserving the rich heritage of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) baseball, is pleased to announce a new college baseball poll that will ultimately determine a mythical HBCU champion. Like its predecessor at Black College Baseball, the Black College Nines (BCN) poll will name two national champions. One division (Large School Division) will be made up of the 20 HBCU schools that compete in the NCAA Division I classification. A second division (Small School Division) will consist of the remaining 34 schools that compete in either the NCAA Divisions II or III, as well as in the NAIA.
Like all organizations running college baseball polls, the Black College Nines’ poll claims to be nothing more than an unofficial ranking of the top HBCU baseball programs. But it is our hope that at the end of the college season, our champions will be afforded the same recognition as those that were previously selected by Black College Baseball, which first began its HBCU poll in 2002. Past national champions included Bethune Cookman, West Virginia State, St. Augustine, Stillman, Edward Waters, North Carolina A&T, Southern, Prairie View and Alcorn State.
The voting committee is made up of a distinguished and distinctive group of die-hard fans who continue to promote black college baseball. Some themselves played HBCU baseball, while others have followed it for years as either HBCU athletic administrators, journalists or researchers. The group includes members of the College Baseball Hall of Fame’s Black College Legends and Pioneers Committee and is especially proud to include Ruffin Bell, originator of the Black College Baseball HBCU National Championship poll.
There will be eight voting periods leading to the crowning of a Large Division and Small Division National Champion. The first poll will be released Tuesday, March 17th, 2015 and the last poll will be released Tuesday, May 5th, 2015.
The dates for the Black College Nines Top 10 weekly rankings will be as follows:
Tuesday, March 17
Tuesday, March 24
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, April 7
Tuesday, April 14
Tuesday, April 21
Tuesday, April 28
Tuesday, May 5
The crowning of Black College Nines National Champions will be announced on Monday, May 12th, 2015 at 10AM (EST) on the Black College Nines website.
For more information on Black College Nines, other current and historical HBCU baseball news and to view weekly polls, please visit us at www.blackcollegenines.com.