The 2022 season has reached the halfway point and the top teams in the country have started to separate themselves from the rest of the crowd. Much of the country is off this week for a bye.
The Mississippi ranks are starting to take shape after Northwest won a big showdown with East Mississippi, thus ending any talk of EMCC making a run at fifth JCGridiron Dirty 30 title. The Rangers are now 5-0 and ranked No. 6 in the latest rankings while EMCC dropped out of the top-10 for the first time this season. Northwest will host Delta this Thursday while No. 14 East Mississippi will host No. 46 Coahoma.
Right behind Northwest is Jones College at No. 7 in the rankings. The Bobcats are 5-0 after getting past Hinds, 31-24. Jones will get a test this weekend when they host the stingy defense from No. 21 Pearl River in a rare Saturday contest in the Mississippi ranks.
Top-ranked Hutchinson is 5-0, but has been leaking some oil in recent weeks with tight wins over Butler (27-19) and Coffeyville (14-9). The Blue Dragons should be able to get back to business as usual when they travel to Dodge City this weekend.
The majority of the West Coast is off this week with a mandatory bye week for the National Division (top tier) programs. Riverside City still leads the California schools at No. 3 in the rankings and received a tough test this past weekend from Canyons before prevailing, 31-28. Mt. San Antonio College has been picking up steam and comes in at No. 8 in the rankings after smashing Allan Hancock, 48-7. The top team from the Northern California ranks is College of San Mateo, who comes in at No. 5 in the rankings after winning a tight battle against a good Butte squad, 28-21.
One of the biggest battles in the country this week takes place in Iowa where No. 2 Iowa Western hosts No. 10 Snow. The Reivers are 5-0 after beating Independence, 25-7, this past weekend. Snow has bounced back from an early loss to No. 4 New Mexico Military and beaten both No. 13 Butler and No. 18 Georgia Military in the past three weeks.
Another big battle rages this week in an Iowa/Jayhawk crossover matchup when No. 11 Coffeyville hosts No. 9 Iowa Central.
Fourteen of the teams in the Dirty 30 are on bye this weekend.
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.