Dirty 30 title still up for grabs

The 2022 season is nearing the final phases and the list of possible champions has started to dwindle. As many as a dozen teams still remain in the hunt with playoffs and conference titles up for grabs.

In Mississippi the regular season has concluded and four teams will battle for the state title. No. 4 Northwest will host No. 12 Jones while No. 17 Gulf Coast will host No. 19 East Mississippi. Jones fell from the ranks of unbeaten this past week when they lost to Gulf Coast, thus dropping them seven spots in the rankings and putting their title hopes on life support. The Bobcats would have to sweep through the competition the rest of the way and get some help, but they still have a pulse.

The Kansas Jayhawk Conference has a couple of weeks remaining and No. 1 Hutchinson has clinched the conference title after a 31-7 win over Highland. The Blue Dragons will finish with Independence this weekend before a massive finale at No. 2 Iowa Western in two weeks in a Jayhawk/Iowa Crossover battle. Iowa Western defeated No. 24 Iowa Central to win the Iowa Conference, 35-21, on Saturday. The Reivers have a big matchup at No. 8 Coffeyville this weekend before the massive date with Hutch.

The Southwest Junior College Football Conference has a new champion in 2022 in Trinity Valley College after the No. 5 Cardinals toppled No. 14 New Mexico Military 40-21 to clinch the regular season title. TVCC finishes the regular season schedule at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M this weekend.

The Minnesota ranks (MCAC) have already reached the playoff finals and to no surprise No. 38 Minnesota State and No. 44 North Dakota State College of Science will play for the title this Sunday. Both squads have been the frontrunners all season.

The California ranks look like the Wild West, especially in the Northern California ranks where almost nobody looks like a guarantee to get to the finish line. No. 10 San Mateo is the top-ranked team at the moment with No. 20 Laney, No. 23 Butte, No. 25 Sierra, No. 26 American River and No. 30 Fresno City lurking. The Southern California picture looks a bit clearer with No. 3 Riverside City looking like the team to beat. No. 6 Mt. San Antonio and No. 7 Fullerton look like the biggest challengers for the moment, but with two weeks remaining in the regular season a lot will be decided over the next two weeks. California has the most robust playoff system, which leads to a lot of big games down the stretch for the eventual winner.

Here is the rest of the JCGridiron Dirty 30 Rankings. 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/records.