The latest Division II rankings from the ESPN Band of the Year committee dropped exclusively on HBCU Gameday and Winston Salem State University's Red Sea of Sound is now ranked #1. The rankings have been narrowed down to the top 10 bands with WSSU jumping up from #10 to #1 since the last rankings were posted in September. They overtook Langston, who is now ranked #6 on the list.

Winston-Salem State is ranked first in Picture and Drill/Design, second in Musicality, and fifth in Percussion. Following them at number two is Florida Memorial University's ROAR Marching band. Florida Memorial ranked first in Auxiliaries and musicality.

The top 10 list is below. To see a full breakdown, visit HBCU Gameday at this link.

  1. Winston-Salem State University “Red Sea Of Sound”
  2. Florida Memorial University “ROAR Marching Band”
  3. Virginia State University “Trojan Explosion”
  4. Central State University “Invincible Marching Marauders”
  5. Tuskegee University “Crimson Piper Marching Band”
  6. Langston University “Marching Pride”
  7. Benedict College “Marching Tiger Band of Distinction”
  8. Miles College “Purple Marching Machine”
  9. Kentucky State University “Mighty Marching Thorobred Band”
  10. Morehouse College “House of Funk”

Bands that didn't make the top 10 but were in the top 15: Fort Valley State University (Blue Machine Marching Band), Elizabeth City State University (Sound Of Class Marching Band), Savannah State University (The Powerhouse of the South), Albany State University (Marching Rams Show Band), Edward Waters University (Triple Threat Marching Band), Clark Atlanta University (Mighty Marching Panthers)

*Note: Morehouse is featured in the top 10 but weren't listed in the inial top 15 returns. So, because of this, six bands were eliminated.