KJCCC Football With Two Ranked in Top-10, Three Appear In NJCAA Division 1 Football Preseason Poll

NJCAA Division 1 Football Preseason Rankings

CHARLOTTE, NC – The first NJCAA Division 1 Football rankings of the season are out with three teams from the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference representing Region 6 as part of the 15-team ranking.

With all four national semifinalists from last year making up the top four of the 2024 preseason poll, the KJCCC is led by number three Hutchinson who is coming off a 27-23 defeat in the NJCAA football playoffs last year East Mississippi Community College who holds down the number two-spot in the preseason poll. Holding the top spot is back-to-back National Champion Iowa Western Community College who defeated EMCC 61-14 in last year’s National Championship game. Hutchinson and Iowa Western have met three times over the past two seasons with Hutchinson winning last year 42-28 in Hutchinson and splitting two meetings in 2022 with the Blue Dragons winning 29-28 in the regular season before falling 31-0 in the 2022 National Championship game. The Blue Dragons are set to head to Council Bluffs to take on the Reivers in a 1 PM matchup on Saturday, September 7th in the 2024 home opener for Iowa Western.

Also making an appearance from the KJCCC in the 2024 NJCAA Division 1 Football preseason rankings are Garden City Community College and Butler Community College with the Broncbusters ranked ninth and the Grizzlies ranked 15th. Garden City received 69 total points and is two points back of eighth-place Iowa Central (71 points) while Butler is the final team to make the preseason rankings after receiving 27 points.

Of the 15 teams and the six regions that are represented in the preseason poll, the KJCCC has the second-most teams in the poll along with NJCAA Region 14 (east Texas) while Region 23 (Louisiana / Mississippi) have the most representation with five teams. NJCAA Region 11 (Iowa) has two representatives in the poll along with one each from Region 17 (Georgia Military) and Region 18 (Snow College).

The 2024 NJCAA football season will kick off on Thursday, August 22nd when Ellsworth heads to the College of DuPage for a 7 PM kickoff while seven more games will take place on Saturday, August 24th. Only Independence will play from the KJCCC on the opening week of the season when they head to Athens, Texas to take on number six-ranked Trinity Valley Community College in a 7 PM kickoff on the 24th. Three of the remaining six KJCCC teams will open their season on Thursday, August 29th including Hutchinson hosting New Mexico Military in the ESPN+ NJCAA Football Game of the Week along with Coffeyville heading to Kansas Wesleyan JV and Dodge City hosting Tyler Junior College while Butler, Highland, and Garden City will all open their seasons at home on Saturday, August 31st.