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Hampton rises, North Carolina A&T plummets in Week 4’s HBCU football power rankings

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11 months ago

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Hampton rises, North Carolina A&T plummets in Week 4’s HBCU football power rankings


Week 4 of HBCU football is here, meaning a lot of HBCUs are about to enter conference play — if they haven’t already. Before teams take the gridiron, here’s how the latest HBCU football power rankings look from NCAA Digital’s Stan Becton.

These will be done weekly throughout the regular season, sorting each HBCU football team at the FCS level based on their performances. Nicknamed The Road to Atlanta, the weekly power rankings lead to the annual meeting of HBCU football’s two best teams at this year’s Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.

Check out the rankings below.

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The Road to Atlanta: Week 4 HBCU football power rankings

1. North Carolina Central | MEAC | 2-1 | Prev: 1

North Carolina Central lost its first game of the year to FBS-ranked UCLA.  It was a difficult task to have NCCU become just the seventh FCS team to upset a ranked FBS foe all-time, so that loss won’t knock the Eagles from the top spot.

EVERYTHING HBCU FOOTBALL: Schedule, scores, rankings and updates for the 2023 season

2. Florida A&M | SWAC | 2-1 | Prev: 2

Florida A&M escaped a potential DII trap game against powerhouse West Florida with a 31-10 win. The Rattlers extended the FCS’s second-longest home winning streak to 16 wins in a row.

STRIKE AGAIN: Florida A&M football is primed for a Celebration Bowl run in 2023

3. Tennessee State | Big South-OVC | 2-1 | Prev: 6

Tennessee State just pulled off the biggest win of Eddie George’s coaching career, taking down a Gardner-Webb team that was in the FCS playoffs last year. While the Tigers needed a game-winning field goal to pull it off, a win is a win. Tennessee State is now tied for the Big South-OVC conference lead entering its bye week.

4. Jackson State | SWAC | 2-2 | Prev: 4

Special Teams remains an issue for Jackson State, but a loss to an FBS opponent won’t hurt the Tigers in the power rankings.

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THEE TIGERS: ‘Prime Time’ is over as coach T.C. Taylor leads Jackson State into a new era

5. Hampton | CAA | 2-1 | Prev: 10

Resilience. That defined Hampton’s win over Howard after rallying from a second-half deficit. The Pirates are 2-1 on the season, finishing its season-opening HBCU stretch with a winning record. Hampton enters CAA play next week, with its final HBCU game of the year being an interconference matchup against North Carolina A&T on Halloweekend.

6. Alcorn State | SWAC | 1-2 | Prev: 7

There weren’t many wins in HBCU football this week against FCS opponents, but Alcorn State got a solid nonconference win against McNeese. It’s the first win for the Braves to build momentum entering a SWAC West battle against Prairie View A&M next week.

7. Morgan State | MEAC | 1-2 | Prev: 3

Not one, not two, not three, but six straight Morgan State losses to Towson. If that opening sentence reminds you of when NBA great LeBron James joined the Miami Heat, it should. 2011 was Lebron’s first year in Miami, and it’s how far back Morgan State’s losing streak goes.

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Towson isn’t expected to be a heavy hitter in the CAA this year, so Morgan State’s loss to a cross-town rival brings the Bears back down to earth.

PAST HBCU POWER RANKINGS: Preseason | Week 2 | Week 3

8. Prairie View A&M | SWAC | 1-2 | Prev: 8

Prairie View A&M lost to FBS opponent SMU, but the loss won’t hurt the Panthers in the rankings.

9. Howard | MEAC | 1-2 | Prev: 5

Howard drops four spots after it blew a 17-point lead in the second half to lose to Hampton. How did they do it? Because of mistakes that led to a 93-yard rushing touchdown and punting miscues. The biggest cause for concern was Howard’s inability to stop the run down the stretch, leading to Hampton’s 7.6 yards per carry. Howard will need to fix these issues before MEAC play starts.

10. Alabama State | SWAC | 1-1 | Prev: 12

Alabama State returns to the top 10 after a bye week, but only because of a head-to-head win over Southern. That Division II loss still looks bad.

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MEAC VS. SWAC: 16 of the best MEAC/SWAC Challenge moments

11. Southern | SWAC | 1-2 | Prev: 15

Southern picked up its first win of the season over Alabama A&M, but the two season-opening SWAC losses still hang over the program.

12. Texas Southern | SWAC | 0-3 | Prev: 11

Texas Southern played its second FBS opponent in as many weeks, losing again in blowout fashion. Next, the Tigers will face a pivotal SWAC game against Grambling State to show how good of a team it can be this year.

13. Alabama A&M | SWAC | 1-2 | Prev: 13

It turns out Alabama A&M wasn’t ready to bite in its conference opener, only scoring 10 points against Southern. The Bulldog offense’s struggles returned as they rushed for negative 17 yards, and quarterback Quincy Casey failed to throw a touchdown.

14. North Carolina A&T | CAA | 0-3 | Prev: 9

North Carolina A&T’s offense had another game with three scoreless quarters and failed to score a touchdown in its CAA opener against Elon. The Aggie offense has gone scoreless in eight of 12 quarters in three games, managing just one offensive touchdown.

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CAN’T MISS: 6 HBCU football game-day atmospheres that you need to experience

15. Bethune-Cookman | SWAC | 1-2 | Prev: 14

Bethune-Cookman was overmatched against an FBS-ranked Miami (FL) squad. That loss won’t hurt the Wildcats in these rankings.

16. Grambling State | SWAC | 1-2 | Prev: 16

A win over Florida Memorial doesn’t move the needle for Grambling State. The win is head coach Hue Jackson’s fourth at Grambling and his seventh in his career since 2016.

17. Norfolk State | MEAC | 1-2 | Prev: 18

Norfolk State added an FBS loss to an FCS win and a DII loss on its resume. After that trifecta, the FCS win is enough to slightly separate the Spartans from the rest of the teams at the bottom of the rankings.

🐐: Here are the greatest individual seasons in HBCU football history

18. Arkansas-Pine Bluff | SWAC | 1-2 | Prev: 17

If not for a missed extra point, Arkansas-Pine Bluff might’ve needed overtime to escape Miles. The near DII loss was enough to drop the Golden Lions below Norfolk State.

19. South Carolina State | MEAC | 0-3 | Prev: 19

South Carolina State stays in place after a bye week.

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 How Jackson State defeated South Carolina State in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge

20. Delaware State | MEAC | 0-3 | Prev: 21

Delaware State lost to Richmond to fall to 0-3. While the Hornets may have the same record as South Carolina State, DSU’s loss to a DII opponent keeps it below the Bulldogs

21. Mississippi Valley State | SWAC | 0-2 | Prev: 20

Mississippi Valley State lost its second game to a Division II opponent, losing to Delta State after having a bye week. Those two DII losses will make it hard for the Delta Devils to rise from the bottom spot.

🏆: HBCU football championship history

TLDR

Week 4 HBCU Power Rankings
RANK TEAM
1 North Carolina Central
2 Florida A&M
3 Tennessee State
4 Jackson State
5 Hampton
6 Alcorn State
7 Morgan State
8 Prairie View A&M
9 Howard
10 Alabama State
11 Southern
12 Texas Southern
13 Alabama A&M
14 North Carolina A&T
15 Bethune-Cookman
16 Grambling State
17 Norfolk State
18 Arkansas-Pine Bluff
19 South Carolina State
20 Mississippi Valley State
21 Delaware State





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North Carolina

NC has some of the most dangerous roads in the US: See how Wilmington-area counties rank

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4 hours ago

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August 4, 2024

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NC has some of the most dangerous roads in the US: See how Wilmington-area counties rank


With a recent study revealing North Carolina as one of the states with the riskiest roads to travel, some may wonder how safe the roads are here in the Cape Fear region. 

MarketWatch Guides, a site that provides “reviews of consumer products and services to help readers make educated purchasing decisions,” focuses in part on car insurance comparisons, vehicle safety and more.  

A recent study by the site analyzed factors including annual miles driven per 100,000 system miles, percentage of rough roads and fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers. States were given a rating out of 10 points, with 10 being the most dangerous. 

More: Distracted driving in Wilmington: How big of a problem is it?

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North Carolina’s ranking among the most dangerous

According to the study, the states with the most dangerous drivers based on the factors studied are: 

  1. Louisiana – 7.55/10 
  1. California – 7.21/10
  1. New Mexico – 6.74/10
  1. Hawaii – 6.73/10
  1. Delaware – 6.67/10
  1. New Jersey – 6.53/10
  1. Mississippi – 6.47/10
  1. North Carolina – 6.39/10
  1. Massachusetts – 6.33/10
  1. Maryland and Texas – 6.26/10

According to the study, North Carolina had 32.5 fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers, but only 2.1% of rough roads, which was the lowest percentage out of the other ranked states.  

For a more localized perspective, the North Carolina Department of Transportation releases annual traffic crash facts data. The most recent 2022 report includes a ranking of counties based on several factors, including reported crashes, crash severity, crash rates based on population, registered vehicles and estimated vehicle miles traveled.  

The most dangerous county for drivers, ranked at No. 1 for the past five years, was Robeson County. The county had 60 fatal crashes in 2022 with 1,136 non-fatal injury crashes. The rest of the total 4,056 crashes were property-damage-only. The county with the best ranking was Hyde County, coming in at No. 100. The county had one fatal crash in 2022 and 10 non-fatal injury crashes. The county had a total of 45 crashes, the rest of which were property damage only.

More: MyReporter: Which intersections see the most red-light camera violations in Wilmington?

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Here’s where the Cape Fear region counties ranked. 

Brunswick County

Ranked No. 76 in 2022, Brunswick County had 25 fatal crashes and 715 non-fatal injury crashes. The total crashes for that year were 3,146. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.

New Hanover County

Ranked No. 58, New Hanover had 19 fatal crashes and 1,313 non-fatal injury crashes, both of which went down from 2021. The total crashes in New Hanover were 5,617. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.

Pender County

Ranked No. 47, Pender County had the worst ranking despite having the lowest number of crashes. The county had 12 fatal crashes and 374 non-fatal injury crashes, and a total of 1,156 crashes. The rest of the crashes were property damage only.  

Iris Seaton, USA Today Network, contributed to this report.

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North Carolina

Tropical Storm Debby expected to bring rainfall to Virginia & North Carolina

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12 hours ago

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August 3, 2024

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Tropical Storm Debby expected to bring rainfall to Virginia & North Carolina


Tropical Storm Debby already has parts of Florida under tropical storm warnings. The Florida Big Bend is currently under a Hurricane Warning. Debby is forecast to briefly strengthen into a category 1 hurricane as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico where water temperatures are near 90 degrees.

As it continues its path over land it is expected to dial back to tropical storm strength as it reaches the Carolinas mid to late next week. Moderate rainfall is possible for northeast North Carolina and southern Virginia by the end of the week.

Higher amounts of rain are possible for southernmost portions of the Outer Banks but generally models show 2-4 inches for northeast North Carolina and 1-2 inches for southern Virginia through Thursday.

Stay with News 3’s First Warning Weather Team for the latest updates as the storm develops.

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North Carolina

Tropical weather update for Wilmington: What we can expect and when

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19 hours ago

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August 3, 2024

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Tropical weather update for Wilmington: What we can expect and when


The National Hurricane Center continues to monitor a tropical depression over Cuba. It’s expected to become a tropical storm later Saturday, bringing impacts to the Carolinas around the middle of next week.

Heavy rainfall and flooding are the primary impacts expected, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

“Gusty winds are also possible, but it is too early to predict specific impacts in great detail at this time,” the weather service said.

At the same time, there is the potential for heavy rainfall and some flooding associated with front expected to stall inland this weekend.

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As of 11 a.m. Saturday, the center of the tropical depression, which would be name Debby if it becomes a tropical storm, was over Cuba and moving west-northwest near 15 mph. The hurricane center said a turn toward the northwest is forecast for Saturday, followed by a northward motion on Sunday and then a slower northeastwardmotion Sunday night and Monday.

Maximum sustained winds were near 35 mph. Slow strengthening is expected throughout the day Saturday. Faster strengthening is possible Sunday, with the storm nearing hurricane strength when it reaches the Florida Gulf Coast, the hurricane center said.

STORM TRACKER: Monitor the latest tropical developments here.

Here’s a look at what we can expect in the Wilmington area, according to the latest briefing from the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

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Wind

The probability of tropical storm force winds has increased, especially for the South Carolina coast. The most likely time of arrival of for northeast South Carolina is Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, and for Southeastern North Carolina is during Wednesday morning.

Rain

The potential for significant rainfall exists with 8 to 12 inches possible from near Cape Fear to portions of thenortheast South Carolina coast. Flash flooding and urban flooding are possible. Some rivers, including the North Cape Fear River and the Waccamaw River, could exceed flood stage next week.

INTERACTIVE MAP: Enter your address to see hurricanes, tropical storms that have passed nearby

Marine impacts

Rough surf, including dangerous rip currents, and hazardous marine conditions are expected this weekend and will persist into the upcoming week.

Are you prepared for a hurricane?

Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Even if this system won’t pose a threat to the NC coast, it’s never too early to be prepared.

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GET READY: Are you prepared for a hurricane? Here’s what to know if you live in the Wilmington area.



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