Let the madness begin! For the 18th straight year we have a preseason favorite as JCGridiron.com releases its first set of rankings for the upcoming season. In what has become a tradition, the fourth of July ranks the official beginning of the race for the Dirty 30 National Title.
Over 17 years, JCGridiron has had 14 individual champions and three split titles, with 13 different programs laying claim as national champs. However, we have gone six consecutive seasons with a different champion with San Francisco (’21), Hutchinson (’20-’21), Riverside City (’19), East Mississippi (’18), Iowa Western (’17) and Garden City/Fullerton (’16 split) capturing the past half dozen. Will somebody new come up and make it seven straight seasons with a different champ, or will the traditional heavyweights make another run.
Some might ask; how are the rankings formulated or how does a program get a high ranking? Very good questions.
During the spring, JCGridiron solicits the coaches in an attempt to locate the top talent for the Rivals database. If coaches do not respond, they are likely not to get as high of a ranking as they would expect. The bottom line is, if we don’t know what you have it’s hard for us to give you a high ranking. Fortunately, most of the power programs do respond because they understand the importance of promoting their players and getting them in the database.
Another big factor in recent years is being good at key positions. For instance, it’s very difficult to win a national title in 2022 without a top flight quarterback. Look at all of the title winning teams and most of them had winners under center. Every now and then a program will win with defense, but it’s getting rarer every season.
Having said all of that, it’s time to start the madness for 2022. Here is a glimpse of the top five teams in the rankings followed by the complete JCGridiron Dirty 30 Preseason Rankings and Final Rankings history.
THE PRESEASON TOP-5
This season’s bullseye goes to Hutchinson, who looks locked and loaded to make a run in 2022. The Blue Dragons finished 9-2 a season ago and ranked No. 4 in the final 2021 fall rankings. Hutchinson captured the 2020-21 spring national title when the title was spread out over seven months due to the pandemic. The Blue Dragons are loaded all over the field, with an experienced quarterback with a ton of moxie.
Don’t look now but East Mississippi looks like it has a chance to be a force (again) in 2022. The Lions have a bevy of major prospects and are still angry from a setback in the MACCC semifinals when they had a perfect season going. East Mississippi is the lone program to have won or split four national titles since the rankings began in 2005. This season they begin at No. 2.
San Francisco had the perfect finish last fall when the Rams won the CCCAA title and finished 13-0, capturing their second Dirty 30 title. San Francisco has some pieces to replace, which is why they didn’t earn the top spot on the board. Unlike some other rankings systems, JCGridiron doesn’t ceremoniously place the former champion as the team to beat. Given the turnover in community college football, that would be lazy and naïve. The Rams start at No. 3.
At No. 4 in the rankings is Iowa Western, who has two JCGridiron Dirty 30 titles to brag about (’12 & ’17). The Reivers have become a machine at attracting top talent and pushing them back out the door with scholarships. Iowa Western was 9-1 a season ago, finishing No. 3 in the rankings after running into a red hot New Mexico Military squad in the NJCAA title game.
Rounding out the top five is Lackawanna, who is still searching for a first Dirty 30 title. The Falcons have been hanging around the water cooler for years but have never drank from the fountain. Lackawanna was 5-3 a season ago, finishing 19th in the final season rankings. With a returning quarterback and a number of big-time prospects around him, expect a big season from the Falcons.
