JUCO Rankings Update: March 28

Brian Sakowski

Blaine Peterson Troy Sutherland Cameron McElwaney

For the first time since the preseason rankings, we have a new No. 1 team this week in the PGJC Top 25. Central Arizona, who started the season in the top spot before spending most of the season to date at No. 2, has leapt back up to that top spot and stands once again as the top team in all the land. This happened by virtue of, along with an undefeated week from CAC, Central Florida losing a pair to Santa Fe, their first series loss of the season and just their 2nd and 3rd losses overall. Conference games are weighted more heavily in these than non-leagues in most cases, which is why CCF took a substantial tumble, along with the fact that pretty much no one between 1-8 lost last week aside from CCF.

With CAC in the top spot, still unbeaten Iowa Western moves up to No. 2 overall at 19-0, with Walters State up to No. 3 with a record of 31-4. LSU-Eunice, the top club out of NCAA DII, moves up a spot as well to No. 4 overall, while the already-mentioned Santa Fe Saints, who look like the kings of Florida right now, are up to No. 5. Santa Fe has been ranked in any number of years since I started doing this, but top 5 is new ground for them as far as my career timeline goes.

Pearl River, Florence-Darlington and Johnson County all had strong weeks and remain in the 6-7-8 spots as a result, as they continue to separate themselves from the packs of their respective conferences. Central Florida's fall stops at No. 9, and while I don't personally believe there to be 8 teams better than the Pats, these rankings are designed to be fluid and their losses last week weigh heavily. Heartland, who probably deserves to be ranked higher but for the teams ahead of them who won't stop winning either, rounds out the top ten at No. 10 overall, which gives us three (3) NJCAA DII schools ranked in our overall top ten.

McLennan is a notable riser this week coming off of a 5-0 stretch, they jump back up to No. 11 overall and are finding their stride in Texas. Gaston continues to win and continues to climb as a result, up another couple spots this week to No. 13 overall, their highest ranking to date. Southern Nevada and Pima both had big weeks and earned jumps, with CSN jumping a pair of spots to No. 19 and Pima bumping up a spot to No. 21.

Newcomers this week include Blinn, who, under first year head coach Dusty Hart (who won over 600 games at Grayson) have over performed relative to expectations and find themselves in the rankings for the first time all season at No. 15. I said this repeatedly on our preseason content across various channels, but be ready for Blinn to be an absolute powerhouse as soon as 2024. I might still be proven correct on the "powerhouse" part, but Blinn has been way better than I expected, and as such they are deserving of this ranking.

Fellow Texans Weatherford also join the party this week at No. 22, they've had a strong year after starting a touch slow and seem to be finding their footing. Texas, per usual, is anyone's ballgame on either side of the state right now. Our final newcomer this week is Tacoma (WA), an NWAC school who currently sits at 18-0 and is dominating out in the Pacific Northwest.

Rk.	Team	State	Record
1	Central Arizona	AZ	31-5
2	Iowa Western	IA	19-0
3	Walters State	TN	31-4
4	LSU-Eunice	LA	30-0
5	Santa Fe	FL	31-1
6	Pearl River	MS	27-5
7	Florence-Darlington	SC	30-5
8	Johnson County	KS	27-4
9	Central Florida	FL	31-3
10	Heartland	IL	19-1
11	McLennan	TX	21-7
12	South Mountain	AZ	26-10
13	Gaston	NC	29-3
14	Gulf Coast State	FL	21-9
15	Blinn	TX	26-8
16	San Joaquin Delta	CA	20-4
17	Connors State	OK	29-3
18	Midland	TX	22-5
19	Southern Nevada	NV	26-6
20	Pensacola State	FL	26-7
21	Pima	AZ	28-8
22	Weatherford	TX	23-7
23	Tacoma	WA	18-0
24	Wabash Valley	IL	23-8
25	Crowder	MO	20-9