By: A.D. Drew, Black College Sports Network
Hurricane Helene played havoc with the football schedule last week, forcing cancellations and postponements of contests. While some people in Georgia and the Caolinas continue to recover from the storm, the season marches ahead for our HBCU teams. The sexiest matchups, for this week, will occur at the NCAA Division II level, specifically in the CIAA, as there will be two Top-10 match-ups on Saturday.
MAJOR DIVISION
In the Major Division, North Carolina Central leaps ahead of the hurricane-forced idle Florida A&M, as the Eagles defeated Norfolk State in the 40th Circle City Classic. Florida A&M comes off their unplanned bye to face Alabama State at the Hornets homecoming. Jackson State soundly defeated Texas Southern to earn the third slot. Hampton dropped their conference opener and dropped to fourth in the ranking. Grambling State lost in overtime to Prairie View A&M in the State Fair Classic.
Tennessee State defeated Charleston Southern and was rewarded with a ranking of six. South Carolina State easily handled North Carolina A&T to earn their way back into the Top 10. Alabama State moves up two spots after beating Bethune Cookman. Southern was idle last week and remains at nine. Morgan State could not find any offense against Stoney Brook and fell to the tenth slot, in defeat.
MAJOR DIVISION POLL
| RANK | SCHOOL | W/L | Points | FPV | Previous Week Rank |
| 1 | North Carolina Central | 3-2 (1-0) | 98 | 7 | 2 |
| 2 | Florida A&M | 2-2 (0-0) | 88 | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | Jackson State | 3-2 (1-0) | 79 | T-5 | |
| 4 | Hampton University | 3-2 (0-1) | 55 | 3 | |
| 5 | Grambling State | 3-2 (0-1) | 50 | 2 | |
| 6 | Tennessee State | 3-2 (1-1) | 49 | 8 | |
| 7 | South Carolina State | 2-2 (0-0) | 33 | NR | |
| 8 | Alabama State | 2-2 (1-0) | 32 | 10 | |
| 9 | Southern University | 2-2 (1-0) | 17 | 1 | 9 |
| 10 | Morgan State | 2-3 (0-0) | 16 | T-5 |
Receiving Votes: Alabama A&M (2-2, 0-0), 15 pts, LW-RV; Howard (2-3, 0-0), 12 pts, LW-7
Dropped Out: Howard University
MID-MAJOR DIVISION
Johnson C. Smith picked up an easy victory against Bluefield State to maintain their top ranking. Clark-Atlanta kept pace with another come-from-behind performance against Lane. Winston-Salem State continues to impress the voters after soundly defeating Bowie State. Virginia Union creeps up the rankings after handling Shaw. The forgotten HBCU, West Virginia State, quietly has risen to fifth.
Shaw dropped to sixth after falling to Winston-Salem State. Virginia State, even with a victory against Fayetteville State, was unable to rise more than one slot. Fort Valley State has fought their way back into the Top 10 after shutting out Savannah State. Albany State put up 49 points against Kentucky State to jump into the ranking at nine. Livingstone held steady at ten after narrowly defeating LIncoln (PA).
MID-MAJOR DIVISION POLL
| RANK | SCHOOL | W/L | Points | FPV | Previous Week Rank |
| 1 | Johnson C. Smith | 5-0 (2-0) | 108 | 9 | 1 |
| 2 | Clark-Atlanta University | 4-0-1 (3-0) | 101 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Winston-Salem State | 4-1 (2-0) | 78 | 3 | |
| 4 | Virginia Union | 2-2 (1-0) | 58 | T-5 | |
| 5 | West Virginia State | 3-1 (2-0) | 54 | 7 | |
| 6 | Shaw University | 3-2 (1-1) | 53 | 4 | |
| 7 | Virginia State | 2-2 (1-0) | 40 | 8 | |
| 8 | Fort Valley State | 2-2 (2-1) | 25 | RV | |
| 9 | Albany State | 2-2 (2-0) | 23 | NR | |
| 10 | Livingstone University | 3-2 (1-1) | 17 | 10 |
Receiving Votes: Miles (2-2, 2-0), 16 pts, LW-NR; Benedict (2-2, 2-1), 14 pts, LW-NR
Dropped Out: Fayetteville State, Florida Memorial
ABOUT THE POLL
The poll is made up of the members of the HBCU-Pro Sports Media Association. The voters make up a cross-section of media members who cover all four HBCU conferences and the independent institutions. The members who make up the sample of voters reside in eight different states.
ABOUT HBCU-PSMA
Established in 2021, the HBCU-Pro Sports Media Association is an organization of professionals providing multimedia coverage of Historically Black College and University sports, as well as professional sports.
The purpose of the association is to transform and empower the culture of media by providing informative broadcast stories, rich contextual reporting and inspirational photography of the marginalized by educating, inspiring, and informing a global community.
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