New York, NY – Bethune-Cookman still sits atop, but there is some major shakeup in this week’s HBCUAthletes.com Football Top 15 rankings.
Tennessee State, a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, and winners of six straight, trumped now third ranked Winston-Salem State as the new second best team in black college football.
South Carolina State, winners of five straight, advanced to fourth following an impressive blowout win over North Carolina Central, which fell to No. 11.
Tuskegee remains in the No. 5 hole, while Jackson State and Alabama State improve to sixth and seventh, respectively.
Prairie View A&M stays put at No. 9, while North Carolina A&T plummeted six spots to 10th following its second straight loss, this time at the hands of winless Hampton.
Despite two impressive blowout wins, the Braves of Alcorn State sit at #12. This is primarily due to two of their victories coming at the hands of NAIA schools.
Rounding out this week’s Top-15 are the Trojans of Virginia State (No. 13). The Dragons of Lane College make its first appearance of the season at #14, while Johnson C. Smith ranks 15th.
Falling out of the Top-15 are the Wildcats of Fort Valley State, which previously ranked No. 14.
HBCUAthletes.com Black College Football Poll 10/16/13
1. Bethune-Cookman (5-1, 2-0 MEAC; W2; #14 FCS)
2. Tennessee St. (6-1, 3-0 OVC; W6; #22 FCS)
3. Winston-Salem St. (5-1, 3-0 SIAC South; W5; #16 DII)
4. South Carolina St. (5-2, 3-0 MEAC; W5) +
5. Tuskegee (5-1, 3-0 SIAC West; W3) +
6. Jackson St. (5-2, 5-0 SWAC East; W4) +
7. Alabama St. (5-2, 5-1 SWAC East; W5) +
8. Southern (3-3, 3-1 SWAC West; W1)
9. Prairie View A&M (4-3, 3-2 SWAC West; L1)
10. North Carolina A&T (3-2, 1-2 MEAC; L2)
11. North Carolina Central (3-3, 1-1 MEAC; L1)
12. Alcorn State (5-2, 3-1 SWAC East; W2) +
13. Virginia State (5-1, 3-0 CIAA North; W4) +
14. Lane (4-2, 2-1 SIAC West; W2)
15. Johnson C Smith (4-2, 2-2 SIAC South; L1)
+ – denotes teams receiving AFCA Top 25 Votes
Note: HBCUAthletes.com’s Black College Football Top 15 in unbiased. The Top-15 is selected by the following criteria: strength of schedule, head-to-head match ups, win streaks, national rankings, key victories and conference standings.
Courtesy: HBCUAthletes.com
