Nothing gets fans more pumped up than a game between two rival teams. The bigger the rivalry; the bigger the energy that transmits to the players. It’s electric and everyone can feel it, even those in attendance. Rivalries give another exciting twist to black college baseball.
Rivalries are one of the things that make college sports great. They bring out some of the fiercest competitions of the season for both teams and bragging rights go to the victors for a full year.
At the heart of college baseball lies some intense rivalries. Some are geographical, some are based on conference alignment, while nearly all are based on competitive excellence.
In the end, these HBCU baseball rivalries aren’t just about who wins or loses. They remind us that we’re all part of something much bigger, something truly special.
Emotions run high for players and fans alike during rivalry games, whether played during mid-week games or spread across a three-game weekend series. They draw big crowds, create big moments, and plenty of tension.
Black College Nines (BCN) ranks the five best rivalries in HBCU baseball.
No. 5: Jarvis Christian vs. Texas College
In 2019, the Jarvis Christian Bulldogs faced the Texas College Steers in a critical Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) matchup on the campus of Jarvis Christian in Hawkins, TX, in the 3rd annual interstate battle better known as the Battle of I-20. Jarvis Christian is located north, and Texas College south, of the I-20 corridor. The two teams, in a contested rivalry of two Texas HBCU baseball programs, are separated by fourteen miles. This rivalry is for more than just bragging rights. The actual Battle of I-20 game is only 8 years old, however, the rivalry between Texas College and Jarvis Christian goes back further than any one of us currently can recall. The close proximity of the institutions added to the hostility of the fans. It’s a great rivalry and a tremendous opportunity to create great memories.
No. 4 Southern University vs. Grambling State
The battle for Louisiana pride has picked up a level of intensity again with the success of both programs in recent years. As the teams are in the same conference, this series’ history is very rich. And with both schools in the same state, the rivalry is even more heated. It’s a deep-rooted rivalry that in the 1960s produced 9 of the 10 conference champions and 7 trips to the NAIA World Series between them.
In the ten most recent seasons (including one game in the COVID shortened 2020 season), Southern University and Grambling State have faced each other 62 times with each program claiming 31 wins. Grambling is the defending Black College Nines Large School National Champions and coupled with the rivalry being even over the past ten years should make the 2025 games even more intense.
One aspect on the rivalry that makes it a fan favorite is the Negro League throwback uniforms worn by both teams when Grambling visits Southern University in Baton Rouge. Here’s a story we posted in 2010 about the throwback games.
No. 3 Edward Waters vs. Florida Memorial
These two teams have been beating each other up for years. It’s been more than just an in-state rivalry. This rivalry has the competitiveness and adrenaline for each team to play its best baseball. The Edward Waters-Florida Memorial rivalry reminds us of north versus south from a recruiting standpoint. It’s a big rivalry with tradition and it always goes back and forth. When the Tigers and Lions face off on the baseball diamond, it always feels a little different. It’s a rivalry that includes bragging rights and upsets. During the 2018 season, Florida Memorial was ranked No. 1 in the week one Black College Nines HBCU baseball small school top 10 poll. The week two poll had Edward Waters in the No. 1 spot leapfrogging FMU, which slipped to No. 5 after a four-game losing streak. Florida Memorial upset top-ranked Edward Waters in doubleheader action topping the Tigers in game one 3-1, then held on for a 2-1 win in game two ending EWC’s eight-game winning streak. The headline read No. 5 Florida Memorial upsets No. 1 Edward Waters to earn a marquee win. It marked the Lions’ first win over the top-ranked HBCU team in the nation in program history. At one time, both programs were members of the Florida Sun Conference. Florida Memorial was a charter member in 1992. Edward Waters joined in 2006 and then moved to the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) after the 2009–2010 season. The rivalry really heated up during the Black College World Series (BCWS). In 2022, No.1 seed Florida Memorial defeated No. 2 seed Edward Waters in the second round of the national tournament. Edward Waters would get its revenge knocking Florida Memorial out of the NAIA bracket championship game in the Black College national title game. The Tigers would move on to the championship game to defeat Kentucky State to claim its second national HBCU baseball national title. Former FMU head coach Florentino Burgos (current Savannah State University baseball coach) faced EWU head coach Reggie Johnson in this intense rivalry, with both having won black college national titles.
No. 2 Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M
Bethune-Cookman Wildcats and Florida A&M Rattlers squared off as intense conference rivals when both were members of the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference (MEAC) when the conference supported baseball. That all changed when the MEAC dropped baseball. Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman left the conference after the 2020-2021 school year. The MEAC sponsored baseball with only 4 teams in 2022, then the four schools joined the Northeast Conference for baseball, and Bethune and FAMU were officially welcomed as members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) on July 1, 2021. This intensified their storied bitter rivalry. This was evident during the 2023 SWAC conference tournament won by the Rattlers over the Wildcats sending FAMU to the NCAA Regionals. Years ago, they played five or six times a year. Now as SWAC brothers, it’s a three-game series. Bethune-Cookman was the more dominant national power when Mervyl Melendez (2000–2011) and Jason Beverlin (2012–2017) ran the program.
No. 1 Edward Waters vs. Talladega College
Both Edward Waters and Talladega became a significant rivalry. The two teams started playing each other as conference members in the Gulf Coast Atlantic Conference (GCAC) when Edward Waters was an NAIA member. That rivalry over the years has become a rivalry that has picked up steam. Both teams have become HBCU baseball national powerhouses who fill their torrid schedules with nationally ranked teams and defeat teams in the NAIA Top 25, and teams in Black College Nines Top 10 poll, then settle their rivalry differences on the diamond in the conference tournament. In 2017, in the fortieth game played in the last six years between Talladega and Edward Waters baseball programs, the Tornadoes of Talladega held on to beat Edward Waters in the Association of Independent Institution (A.I.I.) Post-Season Baseball Tournament to advance to the NAIA National Tournament. Three of Talladega’s last five NAIA postseason appearances were victories over EWU. This has become HBCU baseball’s best rivalry over the last 10 years.
Honorable mention goes to…
North Carolina A&T vs. North Carolina Central
Before North Carolina Central University announced the decision to drop baseball at the end of the 2021 season, the North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central rivalry was one of the top collegiate baseball draws when the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) supported baseball. The rivalry was driven by two schools, both only 55 miles apart via U.S. Interstate 85, as North Carolina A&T is one of the largest HBCUs in the nation and North Carolina Central is the second largest in the state and the fact that both schools competed for the same students and athletes.
HBCU Baseball Historical Flashback…a rivalry for the ages:
Johnson C. Smith University vs. Livingstone College
Two schools that no longer have baseball programs (and have not had for quite some time now) and whose campuses are about 45 miles apart, once had an epic rivalry in the 1920s. As a matter of fact, the rivalry between Johnson C. Smith (originally known as Biddle University and Livingstone College dates back to 1892 when the two faced off in the first recognized black college intercollegiate football game.
In baseball, games between the two featured Easter Monday pitching matchups between Livingstone’s Laymon Yokely and Johnson C. Smith’s Brunalle “Bun” Hayes. It was reported that in their head-to-head pitching duels, games would draw from 3,000 to 10,000 fans. Both Yokely and Hayes would later play Negro Leagues baseball and were once teammates on the Baltimore Black Sox.
In the decade of the 1920s, Johnson C. Smith University bested Livingstone College seven times and in head-to-head contests, Bun Hayes and his Golden Bulls claimed victory over Laymon Yokely and his Blue Bear teammates, three games to one.