NC A&T is back as the top HBCU team in the 2021 preseason Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll despite sitting out the spring 2021 season. No other HBCU made the list.
The Aggies received 159 points in the August 9 voting to grab the 25th and final spot in the poll. They finished 9-3 the last time they took the field in 2019 winning MEAC and Celebration Bowl titles.
No SWAC teams in the top 25
SWAC spring champion Alabama A&M (5-0) finished 24th in the final Stats Perform Top 25 but did not make the preseason Top 25. Alabama A&M and Southern (5-1) were 19th and 20th respectively in the final AFCA FCS Coaches poll in the spring. Alabama A&M won the spring 2021 SWAC championship 40-33 over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Alabama A&M’s 49 votes were tops among HBCUs outside the Stats Top 25. Florida A&M (47), Alcorn State (35) and South Carolina State (10) also received votes.
NC A&T third amongst Big South teams
NC A&T was third in preseason Big South voting behind two-time defending champion Monmouth and Kennesaw State. The Aggies have a similar position in the FCS Stats poll. Monmouth is 13th while spring 2021 runner-up Kennesaw State is 19th.
2021 FCS champion Sam Houston State received 1,228 points and 39 first-place votes to finish atop the Stats preseason poll. James Madison (1,180 points, 8 first-place votes) was second followed by South Dakota State (1,156, 3). Sam Houston State (10-0) won its first ever FCS title in the spring defeating South Dakota State 23-21. South Dakota State finished 8-2
In the spring, Monmouth (3-1) finished 11th and 4-2 Kennesaw State 17th in both the Stats Perform and FCS Coaches polls.
NC A&T has a big date with Monmouth at the Aggies’ Oct. 30 GHOE (Greatest Homecoming on Earth) in Greensboro. Kennesaw State hosts the Aggies on Oct. 16.
The preseason AFCA FCS Coaches poll has not been released yet.