Dirty 30 battle has never been closer

The race for the JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 championship has never been closer. With a couple of regular season games and a bevy of playoff bowl games remaining, close to 10 teams still have a chance to make a run and claim the 20th annual Dirty 30 title.

Top-ranked Mt. San Antonio College secured the top seed in the upcoming Southern California Regional Tournament by beating Golden West College and finishing as the only unbeaten upper-tier program remaining in the country. The Mounties had to rally to win on Saturday but scored 10 points in the final five minutes to nip a Golden West squad that remains at No. 12 despite two losses for the season. No. 3 Riverside City, No. 17 San Diego Mesa and No. 30 El Camino all seem to be in line to qualify for the regional playoffs.

The race for the Northern California title is still undecided due to some canceled games earlier in the season. No. 6 San Mateo and No. 24 American River are both guaranteed a spot after winning their leagues, but the other two spots appear to be up for grabs. No. 29 Foothill College will play No. 9 Modesto Junior College this Saturday, which could determine the two remaining spots in the playoffs. Although No. 8 Butte College appears to be in the playoffs, both Butte and No. 14 Fresno City could both be affected by the result.

The NJCAA playoff announcement is expected in the coming week. No. 2 Iowa Western had to rally against Highland College on Saturday for a 21-14 win but were ranked No. 1 by the NJCAA a week earlier and appear to be a solid bet to host a playoff game. No. 4 Northwest, No. 5 Hutchinson and No. 7 Georgia Military were all among the top four teams in the NJCAA rankings coming into the week and did nothing to ruin their chances of qualifying.

Both Snow College and Navarro College would seem to be the only programs with a chance at sneaking into the NJCAA playoffs. Snow is ranked No. 11 in the JCGridiron Dirty 30 Rankings while Navarro is now at No. 18. Snow (6-2) has no games remaining while Navarro plays No. 27 Tyler for the Southwest JCFC title this weekend.

The rest of the Dirty 30 Rankings follow. Just a reminder, the Dirty 30 Rankings do not include games against club teams, prep schools, non-CCCAA, non-NJCAA or non-HJCAC programs in its rankings.

JCGRIDIRON DIRTY 30 RANKINGS

Dirty 30 Rankings (11/18/24)

Others on the Bubble: East Mississippi 5-4, Sequoias (CA) 6-4, Bakersfield (CA) 6-4, Allan Hancock (CA) 6-4, Long Beach City (CA) 6-4, North Dakota SCS 8-1, Jones (MS) 5-4, Dodge City (KS) 6-4, Pasadena City (CA) 10-0, Mt. San Jacinto (CA) 6-4, De Anza (CA) 9-0, Kilgore (TX) 4-4, Fullerton (CA) 5-5, Pearl River (MS) 4-5, Iowa Central 5-6, Sierra (CA) 5-5, Monterey Peninsula (CA) 9-0, Citrus (CA) 5-5, Diablo Valley (CA) 5-5, Cerritos (CA) 5-5

Rk	School	City	Rcd	Next

1	Mt. San Antonio	Walnut, CA	10-0	SoCal Playoffs
2	Iowa Western	Council Bluffs, IA	10-1	NJCAA Playoffs
3	Riverside City	Riverside, CA	9-1	SoCal Playoffs
4	Northwest	Senatobia, MS	10-1	NJCAA Playoffs
5	Hutchinson	Hutchinson, KS	9-1	NJCAA Playoffs
6	San Mateo	San Mateo, CA	9-1	NorCal Playoffs
7	Georgia Military	Milledgeville, GA	9-1	NJCAA Playoffs
8	Butte	Oroville, CA	9-1	NorCal Playoffs
9	Modesto	Modesto, CA	7-2	@ #29 Foothill
10	East Central	Decatur, MS	8-3	Possible Bowl
11	Snow	Ephraim, UT	6-2	Possible Bowl/Playoffs
12	Golden West	Hnt. Bch., CA	8-2	v #34 A Hancock (SUN)
13	Gulf Coast	Perkinston, MS	8-2	Possible Bowl
14	Fresno City	Fresno, CA	8-2	Possible Bowl/Playoffs
15	Lackawanna	Scranton, PA	6-3	Possible Bowl
16	Coffeyville	Coffeyville, KS	7-2	@ #21 Butler
17	San Diego Mesa	San Diego, CA	8-2	SoCal Playoffs
18	Navarro	Corsicana, TX	7-2	@ #27 Tyler
19	Holmes	Goodman, MS	7-3	Possible Bowl
20	Itawamba	Fulton, MS	6-3	Finished
21	Butler	El Dorado, KS	7-3	v #16 Coffeyville
22	Ventura	Ventura, CA	7-3	v #35 LBCC (WED)
23	Copiah-Lincoln	Wesson, MS	5-4	Finished
24	American River	Sacramento, CA	7-3	NorCal Playoffs
25	Canyons	Santa Clarita, CA	7-3	v #40 MSJC (SUN)
26	DuPage	Glen Ellyn, IL	9-1	@ Comm. Christian (MI)
27	Tyler	Tyler, TX	7-3	v #18 Navarro
28	Saddleback	Mission Viejo, CA	7-3	v #33 Bakersfield (TU)
29	Foothill	Los Altos Hills, CA	7-2	v #9 Modesto
30	El Camino	Torrance, CA	7-3	SoCal Playoffs