The Battle of the Bands is a special competition that takes place among HBCU schools every year throughout the football and basketball seasons as students play their hearts out to take home the victory during half-time shows.
The Undefeated, a sports and pop culture website owned and operated by ESPN, just released its annual final rankings of HBCU bands for the 2021 football season. Norfolk State University’s Spartan Legion topped the list in Division 1 while Kentucky State University took home the top spot in Division 2.
According to The Undefeated, the rankings are conducted by two separate six-person panels. Each person on the panel are current or retired band directors, choreographers, and other qualified individuals from HBCUs who judge the schools on musicality, pictures, drill and design, percussion, auxiliaries and drum majors. The bands are critiqued by the judges who also provide feedback to the individual programs.
“Thank you, ESPN and the Undefeated adjudicators for this terrific honor and acknowledgment. In addition, a big thank-you to the NSU administration, staff, alumni, family, and friends for their unwavering support. Here at NSU, we challenge the students in musicianship, physical training and drill execution. We are very proud of their development thus far and willingness to continue to improve.
“Moreover, the standard of performance by our peers in the HBCU band world is very high, and it helps push us to thrive for performance excellence,” professor William Beathea, director of bands at Norfolk State told the website.
Check out The Undefeated’s Band Rankings below.
