The JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 Rankings enter their 12th year of ranking the top junior college programs in the country. This is the JCGridiron.com Preseason Dirty 30 Rankings for the 2016 season.
A total of nine different programs have either won the title outright or finished in a tie for the national title, with the latest being City College of San Francisco in 2015 when the Rams finished 12-1 and defeated Saddleback College, 26-14, in the CCCAA state title game. It was a long time coming for the Rams, who had finished in the top-5 on four different occasions before finally breaking through last fall.
With a new season comes new optimism and expectations, and unlike most ranking systems, JCGridiron doesn’t automatically place the previous champion at No. 1 for the next season. It usually comes with some criticism, but we’re okay with that given we’ve only had two programs win back-to-back titles. We pride ourselves in hard work and research, and anointing previous champions No. 1 to start the following season shows a lack of either given the turnover rate at a two-year program.
The same will ring true for this season as San Francisco starts the season at No. 2 behind East Mississippi. After a tumultuous season for EMCC when they were eliminated from post-season play as a result of an on-field incident, VENGEANCE is a term most should become familiar with. The Lions are locked and loaded and have plenty of motivation to reclaim their spot atop the junior college football world. Isaiah Patrick and Jaquez Horsley should be the best 1-2 combination at running back in the nation and former Florida State quarterback DeAndre Johnson has a ton of weapons at wide receiver. Watch out MACJC, because the Lions are the “King of the Jungle” and have been working up an appetite.
This certainly will not sit well with Northwest Mississippi, who won the NJCAA title when they demolished an overmatched Rochester team 66-13 in a game that should have never been scheduled. The Rangers start the season at No. 5 in the rankings and will have to replace some key components after quarterback Gardner Minshew signed with East Carolina and running back Justin Crawford signed with West Virginia. Wide receiver Marquisian Chapman will certainly provide a lot of excitement for Northwest in 2016, but with five of the top six tacklers on the team graduating and the lost components on offense, it would only stand to reason there will be a little drop-off.
San Francisco has a lot to replace up front after having one of the best offensive lines in the country last season. The Rams get a good start with the return of tackle Elliott Baker, who already gave a verbal to Alabama last month. Quarterback Anthony Gordon left for Washington State but the Rams are always loaded at quarterback, with Lavell McCullers and Zach Masoli (younger brother of Jeremiah Masoli) ready to take over the reins. The biggest concern on defense is at linebacker where San Francisco lost a lot of talent to graduation.
Iowa Western appears to be the “Best of the Upper Midwest” again, but one can only wonder why the Reivers and the rest of the Iowa schools don’t just form an official partnership with the Jayhawk Conference. IWCC will play two games against Iowa schools and seven against Jayhawk programs, giving them one of the most rigorous travel schedules outside of Georgia Military. If that isn’t enough, Iowa Western will start the season in Colorado against Arizona Western in the newly formed Junction Gridiron Challenge on August 27. We start the Reivers at No. 3 in the rankings because they have a ton of talent returning and a number of bounce back prospects coming in, but the schedule will test their mettle.
Lackawanna appears to have more talent than anyone in the Northeast Region and the Falcons have been on the cusp of greatness for a number of years. At No. 4 to start, Lackawanna is going to run the football down the throats of their opponents with Marcelias Sutton (Oklahoma verbal) and Kani Kane. The running backs coupled with a solid offensive line and close to a dozen former D1 players should have the Falcons running up the score on most of the NEFC. The problem Lackawanna has always had is scheduling, as they won’t play a real game until mid-September and only have about four games on the schedule against programs with any real chance of competing with them.
With the start of a new season on the horizon, a ton of questions remain. Will former greats such as Blinn, El Camino or Arizona Western recapture their previous form? Was East Central, DuPage, Pima or Dodge City a fluke last season, or are they here to stay? Does Saddleback have what it takes to remain on top in Southern California and does anyone have what it takes to challenge CCSF up north? The questions will soon be answered, but I think we all agree it is time to start the football season after months of boredom from a baseball season that is twice as long as it needs to be and an NBA Playoff schedule that has twice as many teams than it needs.
This is the JCGridiron.com Preseason Dirty 30 Rankings.
Just a reminder, records reflect games against affiliated teams and will not include wins/losses against non-affiliated CCCAA or NJCAA programs.
