By Hutchinson CC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – The Hutchinson Community College football team earns its sixth-straight Top 5 preseason pick in the national polls on Monday as the defending KJCCC champion Blue Dragons open the 2024 season ranked No. 3 in the NJCAA Division I Football Preseason rankings.
The 2024 preseason KJCCC-favorite Blue Dragons finished the 2023 season ranked at No. 3 after spending 13-straight weeks at No. 1 before falling to East Mississippi 27-23 in the NJCAA National Playoff semifinals last December at Gowans Stadium.
The Blue Dragons started their Top 5 preseason run in 2019 with a No. 5 preseason pick. Hutchinson went wire-to-wire in the 2020-21 season, starting at No. 1 and winning a national championship. The Blue Dragons started 2021 also at No. 1. The Dragons were ranked No. 3 in 2022 and were preseason No. 2 last season, winning their first 10 games of the season.
Two-time defending national champion Iowa Western is the No. 1 preseason pick for 2024, collecting all 12 No. 1 votes. East Mississippi is No. 2, followed by Hutchinson at No. 3, Kilgore at No. 4 and Snow at No. 5.
The KJCCC is well represented in the 2024 preseason rankings. Garden City is at No. 9 and Butler is at No. 15 to start the season. Dodge City and Highland are receiving votes.
The Blue Dragons will once again play one of the toughest schedules in the nation in 2024.
Hutchinson opens with New Mexico Military on August 29. The Broncos, the 2021 national champions, went 6-6 last season and are receiving votes.
The Dragons then travel to No. 1 Iowa Western on September 7. No. 8 Iowa Central comes to Gowans Stadium on September 14. The Dragons race Dodge City at home on October 5, No. 15 Butler at Gowans on October 26, Highland at Gowans on November 9 and wrap up the regular season on the road at No. 9 Garden City on November 16.
Hutchinson has now been ranked in 33 consecutive NJCAA rankings. That is the third-longest consecutive run in the national poll in program history. The Blue Dragons were ranked in 45-straight polls from 2010 to 2013 and in 38 consecutive polls from 2018 to 2021.
NJCAA DIV. I FOOTBALL PRESEASON RANKINGS
1. Iowa Western (12) – 150
2. East Mississippi – 139
3. Hutchinson – 131
4. Kilgore – 115
5. Snow – 99
6. Trinity Valley – 82
7. Northwest Mississippi – 76
8. Iowa Central – 71
9. Garden City – 69
10. Copiah-Lincoln – 48
11. Mississippi Gulf Coast – 42
12. Georgia Military – 41
13. Navarro – 36
14. Jones – 35
15. Butler – 27
Others Receiving Votes: Dodge City, Highland, Lackawanna, New Mexico Military, Tyler
