Athletic Foundation basketball national titles. Not all schools recognize national championship honors bestowed by third-party selectors, although almost every school with a team named as a Helms national champion claims the title for the selected seasons. Tournament/playoff winners Retrospective selections Historically black colleges and universities Black national basketball championships In 1941, Southern University, coached by the famed football coach Ace Mumford, defeated North Carolina Central, 48–42, in the National Invitational Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament; this tournament was held because the NIT would not invite HBCUs at the time. NCCU was still designated national champions by the Associated Negro Press that year. There would be several other attempts at creating HBCU national tournaments in the 1940s. In late 1947, National Championships, Inc. announced that they would begin hosting a postseason football bowl game and basketball tournament for HBCUs; the basketball tournament does not appear to have been held. Jet magazine began sponsoring HBCU basketball polls in 1974. Dr. Cavil's Classic Cuts names champions for a "Major Division" (NCAA Division I) and a "Mid-Major Division" (NCAA Division II, NAIA Division I, and NAIA Division II). The following table contains a list of men's black national champions. Yearly national championship selections (men) National championships by school (men) The following table contains a list of women's black national champions. Yearly national championship selections (women) National championships by school (women) Black national baseball championships HBCUs first had a mythical black national champion named in 2002, by blackcollegebaseball.com. More recently, a black national champion has been named since 2015, by blackcollegenines.com. The latter names champions for a "Large School Division" (NCAA Division I) and a "Small School Division" (NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and the NAIA). Yearly national championship selections Note: *Alcorn State, St. Augustine's, and Stillman College are listed by a source as having been named black national champions by blackcollegebaseball.com, but the year(s) of the championships is not specified by the source; the year could be 2012, since champions were reportedly named that year National championships by school High school sports Because high school sports in the United States such as football and basketball are state-centered sports involving thousands of schools, it would be almost impossible to have a national championship playoff. A single-game playoff for football, however, was attempted in 1938 and 1939, it was particularly difficult at that time due to many states' prohibition of postseason games. Nearly all states crown several