BOXTOROW HBCU Coaches Poll: Unbeaten Aggies, Tigers solidify standing atop rankings
Michael WallaceRALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina A&T remains No. 1 in both the BOXTOROW Coaches and Media Polls for the second straight week.
In the Coaches poll, the Aggies (2-0) received 14 of 19 first-place votes and finished 12 points ahead of the second-place Tennessee State Tigers (2-0), who received three first-place votes. No. 3 Grambling (1-1) and No. 4 North Carolina Central (1-1) each moved up one spot from last week.
The biggest surprise team of the young HBCU football season continues to be Howard (1-1), which, despite its 38-31 loss to FBS opponent Kent State on Saturday, has moved up one spot from last week to round out the top five. It is the first time in the nine-year history of the BOXTOROW Coaches poll that Howard has been ranked in the top five.
Two weeks ago, the Bison pulled off the largest point-spread upset in college football history by knocking off UNLV 43-40 as a 45-point underdog entering the season opener. Last week, Howard fell just short of becoming the first FCS-level team to upset FBS opponents in consecutive weeks.
“I’m extremely proud of this football team,” Bison coach Mike London told reporters after Howard outgained Kent State 452-399 in total offense. “To go back-to-back against two FBS teams and win one on the road, then fight to stay in one … my 57 scholarship guys versus their 80 plus.”
Bethune-Cookman made the biggest jump in the poll, rising three spots to No. 6 this week after defeating Southeastern Louisiana 28-23 on the road.
The BOXTOROW HBCU FCS coaches poll is administered by FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW and is voted on by HBCU Football Championship Subdivision coaches.
2017 BOXTOROW FCS HBCU Football Coaches Poll Week 2
(Records through September 9, 2017)
Others receiving votes: Hampton (1-1) 17, Florida A&M (1-1) 6, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-1) 1. (1st place votes in parentheses)
Note: (1st-place votes in parentheses for Top-10 teams)
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Published on Sep 12, 2016
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