Several HBCUs have been ranked on national preseason basketball polls in both the NCAA and NAIA.
Tougaloo College and Johnson C. Smith are ranked in the top 25 of the National Association of Basketball Coaches preseason men’s basketball poll. The TC Bulldogs went 22-11 last season, and are ranked 21st on the Association’s Division I NAIA poll. Langston University also received votes, but were 50 points behind 25th-ranked Olivet Nazarene.
Johnson C. Smith is ranked 19th in the NCAA Division II poll. The Golden Bulls defeated the Virginia Union Panthers in February of this year for their second-consecutive CIAA basketball championship. The Panthers fell 14 points shy of making the top 25, and were joined by the SIAC’s Benedict College, who missed the rankings by 10 points.
West Virginia State, regular season champs of the WVIAC, also received 14 points in the Division II rankings. The Yellow Jackets, along with the JCSU Golden Bulls, were selected 24th and 23rd respectively for the Division II Bulletin top 25.
