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A huge upset this weekend has changed everything in HBCU football for the moment.
Bethune-Cookman’s win over Florida A&M, who had been No. 1 in both the BOXTOROW Coaches and Media Polls the previous five weeks, caused massive shakeups in both polls. The Alcorn State Braves, who over the course of
the year have received first place votes in both polls, is now No. 1 with the coaches, while two-time defending HBCU national champion North Carolina A&T Aggies are No. 1 with the media. The Braves received the majority of the first place votes amongst the coaches and the Aggies received the majority of the first place votes with the media. FAMU, S.C. State, and Bowie State all received at least one first place votes between the two polls.
The Braves easily handled rival Jackson State Saturday, having already wrapped up the SWAC Eastern Division for the sixth straight year. The Aggies also easily handled its rival, North Carolina Central, and won its third straight MEAC championship and fifth in the last six years.
The Aggies share the crown with South Carolina State, who won at Norfolk State in overtime on Saturday. Both teams went 6-2 in the MEAC and the Aggies will go to the Celebration Bowl on December 21 by virtue of defeating the Bulldogs on November 2.
Who the Aggies will face in the Celebration Bowl remains to be seen. The Bayou Classic matchup this Saturday between the Grambling Tigers and Southern Jaguars will determine the SWAC West champion and that winner will meet the Braves in the SWAC championship game on December 7. The Braves defeated the Jaguars at home on October 26 and lost at Grambling in overtime the following week.
The Braves will host the SWAC championship game.
Since its inception in 2015, the Celebration Bowl has determined who is No. 1 in HBCU football in the BOXTOROW Polls at the end of the season.
The BOXTOROW HBCU FCS coaches poll and media poll is administered by FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW. The coaches poll, in its 11th year is voted on by the HBCU Football Championship Subdivision coaches and the media poll, in its 13th year, is voted on by media members around the country who cover HBCU football.
2019 BOXTOROW HBCU FCS Football Coaches Top 10 Poll
Week 13
(Records through November 23, 2019)
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alcorn State (13) | 9-2 | 187 | 2 |
| 2 | North Carolina A&T (1) | 8-3 | 172 | 3 |
| 3 | Florida A&M (5) | 9-2 | 163 | 1 |
| 4 | South Carolina State (1) | 8-3 | 134 | 4 |
| 5 | Southern | 7-4 | 117 | 5 |
| 6 | Bethune-Cookman | 7-4 | 109 | 7 |
| 7 | Grambling | 6-4 | 92 | 6 |
| 8 | Alabama A&M | 7-5 | 65 | 8 |
| 9 | Prairie View A&M | 5-5 | 29 | 9 |
| 10 | Alabama State | 5-5 | 27 | 10 |
Other receiving votes: Norfolk State (5-7) 3, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6-5) 1, Jackson State (4-8) 1.
(1st place votes in parentheses)
2019 BOXTOROW HBCU Media Top 10 Poll
Week 13
(Records through November 23, 2019)
| No. | Team | W-L | Pts. | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina A&T (7) | 8-3 | 134 | 4 |
| 2 | Alcorn State (4) | 8-3 | 123 | 5 |
| 3 | South Carolina State (1) | 8-3 | 120 | 3 |
| 4 | Florida A&M (2) | 9-2 | 108 | 1 |
| 5 | Bowie State (1) | 11-1 | 90 | 2 |
| 6 | Southern | 7-4 | 78 | 6 |
| 7 | Grambling | 6-4 | 54 | 7 |
| 8 | Bethune-Cookman | 7-4 | 35 | NR |
| 9 | Savannah State | 7-3 | 33 | 8 |
| 10 | Virginia State | 8-2 | 19 | 9 |
Other receiving votes: Miles (9-3) 16, Alabama A&M (7-5) 9, Prairie View A&M (5-5) 2, Fayetteville State (8-3) 2, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6-5) 2.
(1st place votes in parentheses)
How is NCAT and SCSU ahead of FAMU in your poll when FAMU defeated both teams and still ended up with the conference best record?? How does that work???
How is A&T ranked over FAMU when FAMU beat A&T and has a better record than the Aggies? This is recency bias at its worst. Y’all have better judgement than this. SMH…