BOXTOROW Media Poll: North Carolina A&T begins the season No. 1

PHILADELPHIA, PA. — The defending BOXTOROW national champion North Carolina A&T Aggies received the majority of the first-place votes in the BOXTOROW Media poll and begins the season No. 1 in HBCU football.

N.C. A&T opened the season with a 62-0 beating of Saint Augustine’s. The Aggies outpaced No. 2 Alcorn State by 35 points.

Speaking of Alcorn State, its matchup with Bethune-Cookman in the
MEAC/SWAC Challenge on Sunday was supposed to help define week one and poll rankings for both teams, but the game was canceled midway through the second quarter, due to severe weather, and will not count for either.

Alcorn State led the game 13-7 at the time the game was delayed by lightning and then cancelled after a several-hour wait to see if the heavy rains to subside.

Bethune-Cookman sits at No. 3 in the poll.

Grambling and Tennessee State both won their opening games and round out the top five.

In its 10th season, the BOXTOROW HBCU FCS media poll is administered by FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW and is voted on by media across the country that covers HBCU football.

2016 BOXTOROW HBCU Football Media Top 10 Poll Week 1
(Records through September 4, 2016)

No. Team W-L Pts. 2015 Final Rank
1. North Carolina A&T (10) 1-0 125 1
2. Alcorn State 0-0 90 2
3. Bethune-Cookman 0-0 87 3
4. Grambling (1) 1-0 72 4
5. Tennessee State (2) 1-0 63 NR
6. Prairie View A&M 1-0 62 6
7. Tuskegee 1-0 45 7
8. North Carolina Central 0-1 32 5
9. South Carolina State 0-1 31 8
10 Virginia State 1-0 28 NR

Other receiving votes: Southern (0-1) 24, Alabama State (0-1) 11, Miles
(1-0) 9, Bowie State (0-1) 8, Norfolk State (1-0) 8, Hampton (0-1) 7,
Texas Southern (0-1) 5, Virginia Union (0-1) 5, Johnson C. Smith (0-1) 2, Winston-Salem State (0-1) 1.

(1st place votes in parentheses)