Let the madness begin! For the 19th 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 week of the fourth of July marks the official beginning of the race for the Dirty 30 National Title.

Over 18 years, JCGridiron has had 15 individual champions and three split titles, with 14 different programs laying claim as national champs. College of San Mateo continued a streak of (now) seven straight different champions when they went 12-1, blowing past Riverside City College in the state title game. Will the Bulldogs become the first program to repeat since East Mississippi College in 2013-14, or will another program continue the cycle?

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 2023 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 2023. Here is a glimpse of the top five teams in the rankings followed by the complete JCGridiron Dirty 30 Preseason Rankings and Final Dirty 30 Rankings history.

1. This season’s bullseye goes to East Mississippi, who looks locked and loaded to make a run. The Lions have won or shared a record four JCGridiron Dirty 30 national titles, but haven’t landed at the top since 2018. East Mississippi lost a ton of talent to graduation, but have reloaded with a vengeance and look more like the classic version that won titles in 2011, 2013 (split), 2014 and 2018. The Lions should be very stout on defense and have a lot of weapons on the offensive side of the ball.

Serious Strengths: QB, RB, WR, DL, DB
Other Strengths: OL, LB

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2. City College of San Francisco is one of three programs from California to win multiple Dirty 30 titles and the Rams are locked and loaded at key positions. San Francisco has won two titles during the Jimmy Collins era, capturing a title in Collins’ first season in 2015 and then again in 2021. San Francisco is deep across the board after going 7-4 in 2022. The Rams play in the toughest conference in Northern California, so they will get a ton of tests along the way.

Serious Strengths: QB, OL, DL, DB
Other Strengths: RB, WR, LB

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3. The Mississippi ranks look loaded and Jones College should be one of the top teams to challenge East Mississippi for the Magnolia State title. The Bobcats looked like a team of destiny a year ago before running out of gas and dropping consecutive games to Gulf Coast and Northwest to finish the season. Jones has never won a Dirty 30 national title, but has been knocking on the door in recent years. The Bobcats have been pumping out D1 prospects with the best of them, and 2023 should continue that trend.

Serious Strengths: RB, WR, OL, LB, DB
Other Strengths: QB, DL

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4. The race for the title in Southern California title may have to go through Ventura College this season as the Pirates look like they are ready to make a run. In recent years Riverside City College has been the team to beat, but Ventura looks great on paper and has a chance to knock off the Tigers. Ventura last made a run in 2018 when they lost to Laney College in the California state title game, finishing sixth in the rankings.

Serious Strengths: QB, RB, OL, DB
Other Strengths: WR, DL

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5. Hutchinson is no stranger to the winner’s circle. The Blue Dragons broke through with the Dirty 30 title in 2020-21 during the COVID era and head coach Drew Dallas is now 28-3 over his first three seasons. Hutch leads an impressive list of Jayhawk Conference squads in the preseason rankings, and will be tested by three other programs that all come into the season in the top-10.

Serious Strengths: WR, DL, DB
Other Strengths: QB, RB, OL

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