Three historically Black colleges and universities remained in the Football Championship Subdivision top 25 rankings this week in the early stages of the season.
North Carolina A&T of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference led the way, moving up one spot from No. 21 last week to No. 20 with a 56-0 win over Mars Hill University of the South Atlantic Conference. The Aggies produced 490 yards in total offense and forced five turnovers by their opponent to move to 2-0.
The Tennessee State Tigers of the Ohio Valley Conference came in at No. 24 for the second straight week by barely getting past Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference) in the Southern Heritage Classic in Memphis in front of an announced crowd of more than 47,000.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, which devastated a large swath of Florida, Tennessee State (2-0) and Florida A&M (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) are still slated to meet in the Tampa Classic this Saturday.
“Now that Hurricane Irma has passed through the Tampa area,” Tennessee State posted on its official school website earlier this week, “FAMU is working with local authorities to assess the after-effects of the storm on the surrounding community, including ensuring that all safety and security needs can be met to host a game.”
Grambling State (Southwestern Athletic Conference), which was ranked No. 23 in the first Football Championship Subdivision poll of the season despite losing its opening game to Tulane 43-14, is now at No. 25 after its 23-10 win over Northwestern State.
Howard (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), coming off a historic victory over University of Nevada, Las Vegas two weekends ago, dropped to 1-1 with a 38-31 loss to Kent State on the road in Ohio. The Bison will play their third straight away game to begin the 2017 campaign when they travel to Virginia to meet the Richmond Spiders Saturday before their home opener Sept. 23 against conference rival Bethune-Cookman.