NJCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll | NJCAA Division 2 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll

CHARLOTTE, NC – With the NJCAA basketball regular season set to get underway in 11 short days, the first polls of the season are officially out as the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference has seven schools ranked or receiving votes in the NJCAA Division 1 and 2 Men’s Basketball Preseason polls released on Monday, October 21st.

Defending NJCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball National Champion Barton Community College is the highest-ranked KJCCC team in either of the two polls with the Cougars checking in at number two behind only South Plains College after receiving 335 total points and two first-place votes to sit behind the Texas who earned 349 total points and 14 first-place votes. Barton won their first National Title in program history last year, winning all four National Tournament games by double-digits and ending the year on a 27-game winning streak. The next highest-ranked KJCCC team in the NJCAA Division 1 poll is Hutchinson Community College as the Blue Dragons are ranked 15th after making a run to the NJCAA Division 1 National Tournament Quarterfinal round last season as part of a 29-7 record last season while Garden City is ranked 19th under interim head coach Isaiah Tisdale. Cowley Community College is also ranked by coming in at number 25 under fourth-year head coach Donnie Jackson as the Tigers made the NJCAA Division 1 National Tournament last season and went 1-1 with a loss to Northwest Florida State to end their season.

Among those receiving votes from the conference in the NJCAA Division 1 poll is perennial KJCCC power Coffeyville as the Red Ravens will look to get back towards the top of the KJCCC standings after going 14-18 last season under the winningest coach in KJCCC and NJCAA Region 6 history Jay Herkelman who is set to embark on his 29th season.

The NJCAA Division 2 Top 25 poll has two teams from the KJCCC in the rankings led by number 15 ranked Johnson County Community College after seeing the Cavaliers picked to win the KJCCC Division 2 regular season title in the preseason poll that was released last week. Last season, JCCC went 28-7 overall and won the NJCAA Region 6 Tournament to qualify for the NJCAA Division 2 National Tournament for a second straight season. Kansas City Kansas Community College is ranked number 24 in the preseason poll after winning last year’s KJCCC regular-season title as the Blue Devils went 22-10 overall last season with a 12-2 mark in the KJCCC.  

The NJCAA Men’s Basketball Week 1 polls will be released on Tuesday, November 12th as the regular season will get underway on Friday, November 1st. Polls will then be released weekly on Monday afternoons (Tuesday afternoons on weeks with National holidays on Mondays) through December 16th before starting up again on January 6th and running through March 11th before the start of postseason play.