One can never truly know the mindset of a person when he or she decides to vote in a fan poll such as this one.
One person may use a formula that looks at all teams; their wins and losses and attempt to rank them based on the quality of the opponent, margin of victory, so on, and so forth. Others, meanwhile, may simply vote through the colored glasses of the schools they follow – ranking that school first no matter the record – and ranking the rest in any random order.
Nevertheless, when all the votes are tallied, the results of a fan poll are always fascinating to say the least. This week was no different.
Coming off of an impressive 56-16 win over Southern last Saturday, the Alcorn State Braves (4-1) were voted No. 1 in this week’s HBCU Sports FCS Fan Poll with 14 first-place votes. Bethune-Cookman (3-1), a team that won a 34-33 thriller over Division II member Florida Tech, fell to the No. 2 spot with eight first-place votes.
Alabama State (4-1), who will face the Braves Thursday night in a game that will be televised on ESPNU, dropped to the third spot, followed by Tennessee State (4-1) and North Carolina A&T (4-1) to round out the top five.
Grambling (2-3) managed to jump four spots in the poll from the No.10 spot last week to get the No. 6 spot this week, followed by South Carolina State (3-2), Texas Southern (4-1), Jackson State (3-2) and Southern (2-3.)
The Winston-Salem State Rams managed to maintain the top sport in the HBCU Sports Division II Poll, followed by Tuskegee (2-2), Livingstone (4-0), Fort Valley State (3-1), Albany State (1-2), Virginia State (2-2), and Virginia Union (3-1) at the No. 7 spot. Miles (1-3) and Morehouse (3-1) were tied for the No. 8 spot with Shaw (2-2) completing the top 10.
HBCU Sports FCS Fan Poll
| Rank | School | Record | Points | Previous |
| 1 | Alcorn State (14) | 4-1 | 294 | 6 |
| 2 | Bethune-Cookman (8) | 3-1 | 275 | 1 |
| 3 | Alabama State (3) | 4-1 | 262 | 2 |
| 4 | Tennessee State (2) | 4-1 | 229 | 5 |
| 5 | North Carolina A&T (5) | 4-1 | 206 | 3 |
| 6 | Grambling (5) | 2-3 | 156 | 10 |
| 7 | South Carolina State (1) | 3-2 | 130 | 4 |
| 8 | Texas Southern | 4-1 | 107 | 7 |
| 9 | Jackson State | 3-2 | 89 | NR |
| 10 | Southern | 2-3 | 74 | 8 |
| Others receiving votes: Alabama A&M 67, Norfolk State 38, Morgan State 30, Hampton 29, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 28 | ||||
HBCU Sports Division II Fan Poll
| Rank | School | Record | Points | Previous |
| 1 | Winston-Salem State (10) | 3-1 | 126 | 1 |
| 2 | Tuskegee | 2-2 | 80 | 2 |
| 3 | Livingstone (1) | 4-0 | 78 | 3 |
| 4 | Fort Valley State | 3-1 | 72 | 4 |
| 5 | Albany State | 1-2 | 60 | 6 |
| 6 | Virginia State | 2-2 | 49 | 8 |
| 7 | Virginia Union | 3-1 | 47 | 7 |
| T-8 | Miles | 1-3 | 39 | 5 |
| T-8 | Morehouse (1) | 3-1 | 39 | 9 |
| 10 | Shaw | 2-2 | 22 | 10 |
| Others receiving votes: Stillman 21, Benedict 13, Fayetteville State 10, Edward Waters 9, Kentucky State 5 | ||||
Virginia Union is 3-1, not 2-2
Mr. Junot, thanks for the heads up! I stand corrected.
Fan Polls as well as other polls are extremely subjective. However, they provide a “water cooler” conversation and fans become more knowledgeable of the teams they’re supporting. Overall, it is an avenue to release some positive vibes: everybody needs some positive vibes every now and then. Participation in fan polls provides this.