Collegiate Baseball’s Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I Pre-Season Poll presented by Big League Chew bubble gum has been released and it includes four HBCU teams mentioned in the poll as “others receiving votes”.
Alabama State was mentioned in the poll along with fellow Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) member Southern University. Two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rivals, Florida A&M and Norfolk State, were mentioned as well.
This past 2019 season, both Florida A&M and Southern won their conference championships and made regional NCAA DI postseason appearances. Last season, Alabama State was the SWAC runner-up, losing the title game to eventual league champion Southern University. Norfolk State was one out away from defeating FAMU in the MEAC finals last season, only to fall short to the Rattlers.
The HBCU baseball season starts in 56 days for its large schools.
Alabama State opens its season in February with a tough non-conference schedule facing several teams ranked in the preseason poll including seventh-ranked Georgia and 23rd-ranked South Alabama. They will also face a tough HBCU baseball non-conference schedule including games against Florida A&M on March 31st and April 1st.
Southern University will began the season February 15th on the road with participation in the Andre Dawson Classic in New Orleans at the University of New Orleans. The Jaguars are scheduled to play four games in the Major League Baseball annual Urban Invitational.
Florida A&M‘s 2020 campaign starts with games in Tallahassee versus South Florida onFebruary 17th, then a two-game tilt February 18-19 with Mercer before hitting the road February 22-23 playing in a MEAC/SWAC challenge with games against Alcorn State, Jackson State and Southern.
Norfolk State plays an extremely tough schedule in 2020 opening with a three-game series at home February 14-16 versus Wagner College at the Marty L. Miller Field, then visiting Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia February 18th for a midweek contest.
Collegiate Baseball’s Division I Pre-Season Poll:
| Rank | Team (2019 Final Record) | Points |
| 1. | Louisville (51-18) | 497 |
| 2. | Vanderbilt (59-12) | 495 |
| 3. | Texas Tech. (46-20) | 491 |
| 4. | Miami, Fla. (41-20) | 488 |
| 5. | Arizona St. (38-19) | 485 |
| 6. | Mississippi St. (52-15) | 483 |
| 7. | Georgia (46-17) | 480 |
| 8. | Auburn (38-28) | 477 |
| 9. | Arkansas (46-20) | 475 |
| 10. | Michigan (50-22) | 473 |
| 11. | Louisiana St. (40-26) | 470 |
| 12. | UCLA (52-11) | 468 |
| 13. | North Carolina (46-19) | 465 |
| 14. | Florida (34-26) | 460 |
| 15. | Florida St. (42-23) | 457 |
| 16. | N.C. State (42-19) | 455 |
| 17. | Wake Forest (31-26) | 454 |
| 18. | Arizona (32-24) | 452 |
| 19. | Oklahoma St. (40-21) | 451 |
| 20. | Texas Christian (34-28) | 449 |
| 21. | Texas A&M (39-23-1) | 447 |
| 22. | Texas (27-27) | 444 |
| 23. | South Alabama (30-26) | 442 |
| 24. | Louisiana-Lafayette (28-31) | 439 |
| 25. | Stanford (45-14) | 436 |
| 26. | Cal. St. Fullerton (27-26) | 435 |
| 27. | U.C. Santa Barbara (45-11) | 432 |
| 28. | Georgia Tech. (43-19) | 430 |
| 29. | Minnesota (29-27) | 428 |
| 30. | Oklahoma (33-23) | 426 |
| 31. | San Diego St. (32-25) | 423 |
| 32. | Oregon St. (36-20-1) | 420 |
| 33. | Brigham Young (36-17) | 418 |
| 34. | Connecticut (39-25) | 415 |
| 35. | Houston (32-24) | 413 |
| 36. | East Carolina (47-18) | 409 |
| 37. | U.C. Irvine (37-17) | 406 |
| 38. | Central Michigan (47-14) | 402 |
| 39. | Ball St. (38-19) | 399 |
| 40. | Florida Atlantic (41-21) | 395 |
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Southern Mississippi (40-21), Duke (35-27), Clemson (35-26), Virginia (32-24), St. John’s (31-23), California (32-20), Tennessee (40-21), South Carolina (28-28), Mississippi (41-27), Oregon (27-29), Washington (28-24), Alabama (30-26), Kentucky (26-29), Southern California (25-29-1), Creighton (41-13), Nebraska (32-24), Ohio St. (36-27), Indiana (37-23), Illinois (36-21), Baylor (35-19), West Virginia (38-22), Kent St. (30-24), Miami, Ohio (37-19), Dallas Baptist (43-20), Missouri St. (20-36), Fresno St. (40-16-1), Loyola Marymount (34-25), Tulane (32-26), Cal Poly (28-28), Rice (26-33), Bryant (40-20), Xavier (27-31), Seton Hall (25-28), Samford (41-19), Wofford (36-25), Nevada-Las Vegas (29-29), Nevada (30-26), Sam Houston St. (31-25), McNeese St. (35-26), Coastal Carolina (36-26-1), Texas St. (36-20), Gonzaga (31-24), San Diego (32-21), Pepperdine (24-25), Grand Canyon (36-24), New Mexico St. (38-17), Sacramento St. (40-25), California Baptist (35-20), Stony Brook (31-23), Binghamton (26-24), Liberty (43-21), Florida Gulf Coast (34-21), Jacksonville (32-27), Stetson (27-32), North Florida (32-25), Virginia Commonwealth (39-19), Dayton (32-26-1), Davidson (29-22), Campbell (37-21), Radford (30-27), N.C. Wilmington (32-31), College of Charleston (36-21), Wright St. (42-17), Oral Roberts (29-26), Harvard (27-16), Pennsylvania (23-18), Quinnipiac (30-29), Canisius (24-29), Florida A&M (27-34), Norfolk St. (24-26), Central Connecticut St. (31-23), Wagner (19-32), Jacksonville St. (39-23), Morehead St. (40-21), Army (35-26), Navy (39-17), Mercer (35-29), Southern (30-19), Alabama St. (28-26).