Bethune-Cookman spent exactly one week at No. 3 in the Black College Football Poll. Then it went to Pine Bluff, threw five interceptions, and trailed 49-0 at halftime.
That 63-21 loss set the tone for a week of big moves. Alcorn State jumped from 10th to fourth, Arkansas-Pine Bluff went from receiving votes to fifth, and Delaware State and North Carolina Central both entered the top 10. Morgan State, Grambling State, and Howard all fell out.
At the top, nothing changed. Alabama A&M is still No. 1 with the voters after surviving the Magic City Classic, and South Carolina State is still No. 1 in the Data Driven HBCU Computer Poll after its 51-10 win at Morgan State. Here is how the two polls line up.
Our Rankings Next to the Black College Football Poll
The gap column compares the two polls for the 10 teams the voters ranked. A plus means our poll ranks the team higher than the voters do, and a minus means we rank it lower. The two biggest gaps are highlighted.
| School | Our poll | Our poll last week | BCFP | BCFP last week | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina State | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | +1 |
| Alabama A&M | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | -1 |
| Jackson State | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Bethune-Cookman | 4 | 4 | 9 | 3 | +5 |
| Prairie View A&M | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | +1 |
| Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 6 | 13 | 5 | RV | -1 |
| North Carolina Central | 7 | 10 | 8 | RV | +1 |
| Delaware State | 8 | 11 | 7 | RV | -1 |
| Howard | 9 | 5 | NR | 9 | |
| Alcorn State | 10 | 15 | 4 | 10 | -6 |
| North Carolina A&T | 11 | 14 | RV | RV | |
| Morgan State | 12 | 7 | RV | 5 | |
| Alabama State | 13 | 9 | 10 | 7 | -3 |
| Grambling State | 14 | 8 | NR | 6 | |
| Texas Southern | 15 | 18 | NR | NR | |
| Norfolk State | 16 | 12 | NR | RV | |
| Tennessee State | 17 | 16 | NR | NR | |
| Southern | 18 | 19 | NR | NR | |
| Mississippi Valley State | 19 | 17 | NR | NR | |
| Hampton | 20 | 20 | NR | NR | |
| Florida A&M | 21 | 21 | NR | NR |
RV means receiving votes. NR means not ranked and not receiving votes.
The Black College Football Poll, jointly sanctioned by the MEAC, SWAC, CIAA, and SIAC, agrees with our poll on nine of the top 10 teams. The only difference is at the bottom of the board, where we have Howard ninth, and the voters have Alabama State 10th. Seven of the nine shared teams sit within one spot of each other, and both polls have the same top three, with Jackson State third in each.
The Race for No. 1
Alabama A&M received 13 of the 23 first-place votes and 454 points. South Carolina State got the other 10 first-place votes and 430 points. The gap between them grew from 10 points last week to 24, after the Bulldogs held off Alabama State 31-28 before 69,384 fans at Legion Field.
Our computer poll still has South Carolina State on top, by about the same margin as last week. The Bulldogs of Orangeburg went 7 for 7 in the red zone at Hughes Stadium, outgained Morgan State 513 to 150 and won their 13th straight MEAC game. They are now 4-0 against the HBCUs we track, with a perfect head-to-head record. Alabama A&M is 5-2 against those teams, with losses to Howard and Jackson State.
The Bulldogs of Normal still have the stronger margins. Against FCS opponents, Alabama A&M wins by 15.3 points and 181 yards per game. South Carolina State has closed that gap quickly, and after Thursday’s rout it wins by 10.6 points and 142 yards per game against FCS teams.
Inside the Gap
In our composite, South Carolina State scores 1.063 and Alabama A&M scores 1.015, a difference of 0.048. Both teams are 7-2, so they get the same credit for their wins. The rest of the formula drives the gap, where South Carolina State’s perfect head-to-head record and slightly stronger schedule outweigh Alabama A&M’s edge in margins.
The production numbers show two different kinds of teams. Here is how they compare overall, against FCS opponents only, and in conference play.
| Per game | SC State overall | AAMU overall | SC State vs. FCS | AAMU vs. FCS | SC State in MEAC | AAMU in SWAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points per game | 42.0 | 39.1 | 32.1 | 38.4 | 36.5 | 43.0 |
| Points allowed per game | 16.8 | 20.9 | 21.6 | 23.1 | 8.5 | 25.6 |
| Yards per game | 444.2 | 484.4 | 413.0 | 478.7 | 417.0 | 498.8 |
| Yards allowed per game | 236.6 | 286.7 | 271.1 | 298.0 | 214.5 | 279.8 |
Alabama A&M moves the ball better in every split. It gains about 40 more yards per game than South Carolina State overall, about 66 more against FCS teams and about 82 more in conference play. South Carolina State does score more points overall, 42.0 to 39.1, but most of that edge comes from its 87-0 and 66-0 wins over Division II opponents. Against FCS teams, Alabama A&M scores 38.4 points per game to South Carolina State’s 32.1.
South Carolina State has the better defense in every split. It allows 16.8 points and 236.6 yards per game overall, compared with 20.9 points and 286.7 yards for Alabama A&M. The Bulldogs of Orangeburg are especially stingy on the ground, allowing 83.2 rushing yards per game to Alabama A&M’s 131.4.
Conference play is where the gap looks widest, with one caveat. South Carolina State has allowed just 8.5 points per game in its two MEAC games, against Norfolk State and Morgan State. Alabama A&M has played five SWAC games, including Jackson State, Bethune-Cookman and Alabama State, and is 4-1 while scoring 43.0 points and allowing 25.6 per game.
Alabama A&M Takes Over No. 1 in This Week’s Black College Football Poll takes a deeper look at why the two polls split on the top spot.
The Week’s Big Movers
Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Alcorn State
No team moved more than Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Golden Lions went from receiving votes to fifth and climbed seven spots, from 13th to sixth, in our poll. They scored 21 points in the first 1:52 against Bethune-Cookman, returned five interceptions for 128 yards and ran for 333 yards.
Alcorn State made the biggest jump in the voters’ top 10, from 10th to fourth, after piling up 585 yards in a 52-17 win at Mississippi Valley State. Just four points separate Alcorn State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the voting, and the Braves own the head-to-head result: a 53-51 double-overtime win in September. Our poll moved Alcorn State up five spots, from 15th to 10th.
Those two teams, Prairie View A&M and Grambling State, are all part of a crowded SWAC West. Alcorn State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Prairie View A&M are tied at 3-2 in conference play.
Delaware State and North Carolina Central
Two MEAC teams returned to the voters’ top 10, giving the conference three ranked teams along with South Carolina State. Delaware State is seventh after rallying from 17 points down twice to beat Norfolk State 36-33 on a field goal at the horn in Philadelphia. North Carolina Central is eighth after shutting out Howard 34-0 and holding the Bison to four first downs and 114 total yards.
Our poll moved both teams up, Delaware State from 11th to eighth and North Carolina Central from 10th to seventh. North Carolina Central is now 2-0 in MEAC play, level with South Carolina State at the top of the conference.
Bethune-Cookman Falls, Three Teams Drop Out
Bethune-Cookman fell six spots with the voters, from third to ninth. Morgan State, Grambling State and Howard all dropped out of the voters’ top 10. Morgan State and North Carolina A&T are the only other teams receiving votes, with 58 points each.
Grambling State took the biggest fall in our poll, dropping from eighth to 14th after its overtime loss to Texas Southern. Morgan State fell from seventh to 12th after the loss to South Carolina State dropped the Bears to 0-2 in MEAC play, and Howard slid from fifth to ninth.
Where We Differ
Alcorn State: our No. 10, the voters’ No. 4
Alcorn State is the biggest gap on the board. The voters rewarded the Braves for their win at Mississippi Valley State, and they own wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Texas Southern. Alcorn State also outgains FCS opponents by 94 yards per game.
Our model sees a weaker schedule. Alcorn State’s strength-of-schedule score is among the lowest of the 21 teams we track, and its four losses came against Southern Miss, North Alabama, Grambling State, and Prairie View A&M. Against FCS opponents, the Braves are 3-3 and win by just 2.5 points per game.
Bethune-Cookman: our No. 4, the voters’ No. 9
Bethune-Cookman is the other way around. The voters dropped the Wildcats six spots after the loss in Pine Bluff, while our poll kept them fourth.
Our model still values Bethune-Cookman’s wins over Jackson State and Alabama State, and the Wildcats have played the second toughest schedule among our top five, behind Prairie View A&M. The numbers behind those results are thin, though. Against FCS opponents, Bethune-Cookman is 4-3 and has been outscored by 5.1 points and outgained by 59 yards per game.
Howard and Alabama State
Howard is ninth in our poll but did not receive a vote after the shutout in Durham. The Bison are 4-5, but they still own wins over Alabama A&M and Morgan State, and their schedule is among the toughest of the teams we track.
Alabama State is 10th with the voters and 13th in our poll after a three-point loss to Alabama A&M. The Hornets outscore FCS opponents by 5.8 points per game but give up 60 yards per game, and they are 2-3 in SWAC play.
The FCS Only Test
Once again, we set aside every game against FBS, Division II, and non-NCAA opponents and looked only at how each team has played against FCS teams. Point margin is the average point differential, and yardage margin is the average difference in total yards. A minus means the opponent had more. The table is in our poll order.
| School | Record | FCS record | Point margin | Yardage margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina State | 7-2 | 5-2 | +10.6 | +142 |
| Alabama A&M | 7-2 | 5-2 | +15.3 | +181 |
| Jackson State | 6-2 | 4-2 | +3.8 | +22 |
| Bethune-Cookman | 5-4 | 4-3 | -5.1 | -59 |
| Prairie View A&M | 4-5 | 4-4 | +0.5 | -26 |
| Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 5-3 | 3-2 | +13.6 | +20 |
| North Carolina Central | 4-5 | 3-4 | +2.1 | +37 |
| Delaware State | 5-4 | 3-3 | -6.0 | 0 |
| Howard | 4-5 | 3-3 | -3.0 | -74 |
| Alcorn State | 5-4 | 3-3 | +2.5 | +94 |
| North Carolina A&T | 4-5 | 4-4 | -2.8 | -20 |
| Morgan State | 5-4 | 4-3 | -3.9 | -70 |
| Alabama State | 4-4 | 3-3 | +5.8 | -60 |
| Grambling State | 4-4 | 2-3 | -5.8 | -117 |
| Texas Southern | 3-5 | 3-3 | -4.5 | +2 |
| Norfolk State | 4-5 | 2-3 | +4.8 | +106 |
| Tennessee State | 2-7 | 2-6 | -9.8 | -84 |
| Southern | 4-5 | 2-4 | -3.8 | -9 |
| Mississippi Valley State | 3-6 | 2-4 | -18.3 | -72 |
| Hampton | 1-8 | 0-7 | -24.0 | -166 |
| Florida A&M | 2-7 | 1-6 | -11.4 | -97 |
Alabama A&M is still the best team in this test, but it has company. South Carolina State’s margins jumped after the win in Baltimore, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff now outscores FCS opponents by 13.6 points per game, the second-best mark in the field.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s yardage margin tells a different story. The Golden Lions outgain FCS teams by only 20 yards per game, suggesting much of their scoring comes from turnovers and big plays. Norfolk State is the opposite, outgaining FCS teams by 106 yards per game while sitting 2-3 against them.
The Bottom Line
The voters and our computer still agree on who belongs at the top. They split on the order, and the voters’ gap at No. 1 got wider this week.
The next test comes Thursday, when South Carolina State visits Howard at 5 p.m. ET. On Saturday, Alabama A&M visits Prairie View A&M, Arkansas-Pine Bluff visits Grambling State, Bethune-Cookman visits Southern, and North Carolina Central visits Norfolk State with a share of the MEAC lead on the line. The latest Toyota Championship Projection will be released this Wednesday.
See the full rankings and every team’s results on the 2026 football season dashboard.
