Celebration Bowl and MEAC Champion North Carolina Central (10-2, 4-1 MEAC) earned the top computer rating, by accumulating 329 points throughout the season. Celebration Bowl Runner-Up and SWAC Champion Jackson State (12-1, 9-0 SWAC), the only FCS-HBCU team to complete the regular season undefeated, totalled 310 points to finish second. SWAC East Runner-Up, Florida A&M (9-2, 7-1 SWAC), have won nine consecutive games and currently have HBCUs longest current winning streak, and tallied 267 points. North Carolina A&T State (7-4, 4-1 Big South), the runner-up in the Big South Conference, collected 215 points to finish fourth in the ranking. The final team to total over 200 points in the ranking was Alabama State (6-5, 4-4 SWAC), who finished fifth with 212 points.
BCSN declares North Carolina Central, Benedict as National Champions
BCSN declares North Carolina Central, Benedict as National Champions
December 26, 2022 | Atlanta, GA
A.D. Drew & Bryan Fulford; Black College Sports Network
The Black College Sports Network have named the North Carolina Central Eagles and the Benedict Tigers as their National Champions for the 2022 HBCU football season. A computer algorithm, created by the BCSN, has stated that the Eagles and the Tigers were tops in their Division I and Non-Division I categories of HBCU football teams. North Carolina Central won the HBCU Championship Game, the Celebration Bowl, defeating Jackson State 41-34 in overtime. Benedict received the number one regional ranking in NCAA Division II Super Region 2.
The Division I category includes all FCS-HBCU programs from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Hampton (Colonial Athletic Conference), North Carolina A&T State (Big South Conference), and Tennessee State (Ohio Valley Conference). The Non-Division I category comprises teams from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAA), Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), HBCUs that participate in the NAIA (Arkansas Baptist, Florida Memorial, and Langston), other NCAA DIvision II HBCU teams such as Bluefield State, Lincoln (MO), and West Virginia State, and NCCAA program Virginia-Lynchburg.
| DIVISION I RANKING (FINAL) | |
|---|---|
| Team | Points |
| North Carolina Central | 328.78 |
| Jackson St | 310.02 |
| Florida A&M | 267.13 |
| North Carolina A&T | 215.47 |
| Alabama St | 211.68 |
| Prairie View A&M | 194.74 |
| Howard | 194.37 |
| Morgan St | 190.13 |
| Southern | 189.62 |
| Delaware St | 175.58 |
The Benedict Tigers (11-1, 8-0 SIAC) finished the season with the top position in NCAA Division II Super Region 2, were the SIAC Champions, completed the regular season undefeated, and were tops in the BCSN Computer Rankings with 271 points. Virginia Union (9-2, 7-1 CIAA), who spent most of the 2022 season in the number one position, finished second in the ranking, primarily based on their strength of schedule, despite not competing in their conference championship game. CIAA Champion Fayetteville State (9-3, 8-1 CIAA), took home the bronze prize for the classification with 236 points. Tuskegee (8-3, 7-1 SIAC), the SIAC Runner-Up, were the fourth place team in the rating and finished fourth with 232 points. Rounding out the top five was Fort Valley State (8-2, 5-2 SIAC), who was the final team to accumulate over 200 points in the ranking with a total of 204 points.
| NON-DIVISION I RANKING (FINAL) | |
|---|---|
| Team | Points |
| Benedict | 271.11 |
| Virginia Union | 270.20 |
| Fayetteville St | 236.29 |
| Tuskegee | 231.68 |
| Fort Valley St | 203.53 |
| Albany St | 185.44 |
| Virginia St | 178.01 |
| Bowie St | 175.69 |
| Savannah St | 174.46 |
| Langston | 158.18 |
About the Ranking
The BCSN Computer Power Rankings is an algorithm, created by the Black College Sports Network, that assigns value to each teams' record, strength of schedule, road or neutral site victories, and power rating. The Computer Power Rankings are released after four weeks of play so that enough data may be collected. The Black College Sports Network released its first Computer Power Rankings in 2018.
BCSN Champions By Year
| YEAR | DIVISION I | NON-DIVISION I |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | North Carolina A&T | Bowie State |
| 2019 | Florida A&M | Bowie State |
| 2020 | No Champion-COVID | No Champion-COVID |
| 2021 | Jackson State | Bowie State |
