The North Carolina Central University baseball team received votes for the second time this season in the latest Division I poll rankings released by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
The Eagles were tabbed to finish third in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division according to MEAC preseason rankings.
This season, the Eagles have won 7 of its 10 ballgames. NCCU has hit .279 as a team and scored 89 runs over the ten contests, while the pitching staff has limited the opposition to a .233 average and just 63 runs over the same timeframe.
North Carolina Central, under the direction of head coach Jim Koerner, looks to make a run at the MEAC championship and an appearance in the NCAA regional tournament. Koerner, in his 10th season as the skipper, has won a total of 186 games.
North Carolina Central was the only team to go 3-0 in the MEAC this past weekend and is scheduled to face East Tennessee State in non-conference weekend action March 12-13.
This marks the 24th year that the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has conducted its weekly polls.
| 2021 NCBWA DIVISION I POLL (MARCH 8) | ||||
| Rk. | School | Conference | Record | Pvs. |
| 1. | Arkansas | SEC | 10-0 | 1 |
| 2. | Vanderbilt | SEC | 9-1 | 2 |
| 3. | Ole Miss | SEC | 10-2 | 7 |
| 4. | Florida | SEC | 9-3 | 4 |
| 4. | Mississippi State | SEC | 8-3 | 5 |
| 6. | UCLA | Pac-12 | 8-3 | 9 |
| 7. | South Carolina | SEC | 10-0 | 13 |
| 8. | Miami | ACC | 5-4 | 6 |
| 9. | Texas Tech | Big 12 | 8-3 | 15 |
| 10. | Oklahoma State | Big 12 | 9-0-1 | 14 |
| 11. | TCU | Big 12 | 8-3 | 12 |
| 12. | Louisville | ACC | 7-4 | 3 |
| 13. | Georgia Tech | ACC | 8-3 | 11 |
| 14. | East Carolina | American Athletic | 9-2 | 16 |
| 15. | Tennessee | SEC | 11-2 | 18 |
| 16. | Oregon State | Pac-12 | 10-1 | 21 |
| 17. | Arizona | Pac-12 | 10-2 | 22 |
| 18. | LSU | SEC | 9-3 | 10 |
| 19. | Texas | Big 12 | 7-5 | 19 |
| 20. | UC Santa Barbara | Big West | 6-5 | 8 |
| 21. | Boston College | ACC | 8-2 | 29 |
| t22. | Alabama | SEC | 10-2 | 23 |
| t22. | Florida Atlantic | Conference USA | 8-2 | 26 |
| 24. | Virginia Tech | ACC | 7-2 | 28 |
| 25. | Virginia | ACC | 6-5 | 17 |
| 26. | Georgia | SEC | 9-3 | 20 |
| 27. | Arizona State | Pac-12 | 8-2 | RV |
| 28. | Dallas Baptist | Missouri Valley | 8-3 | 30 |
| 29. | Oregon | Pac-12 | 6-2 | – |
| t30. | Stanford | Pac-12 | 7-1 | RV |
| t30. | West Virginia | Big 12 | 4-3 | RV |
| Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): Auburn (7-4), Ball State (6-4), Baylor (7-4), California (7-5), California Baptist (6-4), Coastal Carolina (7-3), Duke (6-5), Florida Gulf Coast University (7-3), Houston (7-4), Indiana State (6-4), Louisiana (9-4), Louisiana Tech (7-3), Michigan (2-1), Middle Tennessee (7-3), North Carolina (7-3), North Carolina Central (7-3), Notre Dame (4-2), Ohio State (3-1), Oklahoma (5-6), Old Dominion (8-3), Oral Roberts (4-7), Pittsburgh (7-3), San Diego State (7-3), South Carolina Upstate (9-0), Southern Illinois (11-0), Texas A&M (9-4), UC Irvine (5-4), UNCW (7-3), UTRGV (6-4), Washington State (9-2). | ||||
| Dropped out: North Carolina (24), Auburn (27). | ||||
| By conference: SEC 10, ACC 6, Pac-12 6, Big 12 5, American Athletic 1, Big West 1, Conference USA 1, Missouri Valley 1. | ||||