JUCO Top 50 Teams: May 6

Call it the calm before the storm in the nation’s junior-college ranks.

With post-season tournament play scheduled to begin on many fronts around the country later this week, Perfect Game’s latest ranking of the Top 50 junior-college teams has seen almost no turnover in the past week. Chipola (Fla.) remains firmly installed as the No. 1 team, and every other club in the top 10 has held firm.

Chipola (36-10) wrapped up regular-season play more than a week ago and sat idle for the next several days as it geared up for play in the hotly-contested Florida junior-college state tournament (or, technically, the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 8 tournament), set for May 9-14 in Lakeland, Fla., with a berth in the Junior College World Series on the line.

The Indians open play against No. 37 Central Florida, but will have their work cut out for them as the expanded 10-team field also includes No. 5 St. Johns River (37-12), No. 10 Polk State (36-12) and No. 11 Gulf Coast State (37-12). Like Chipola, all those teams were idle last week.

Most of the nation’s remaining top junior colleges will also begin or resume tournament play this week—either at the state or regional levels. As in Florida, berths in the Junior College World Series, scheduled for May 24-31 in Grand Junction, Colo., will be at stake in Region 5 (Western Texas, New Mexico), Region 6 (Kansas), Region 14 (Eastern Texas, Louisiana) and Region 22 (Alabama).

California junior colleges are not members of the NJCAA and do not participate in the Junior College World Series, but that state has nine schools represented in the Top 50. California conducts its own 36-team state tournament, and the field was whittled to 16 last weekend. No. 4-ranked Orange Coast, the No. 1 seed in southern California, and No. 7 Chabot, No. 1 seed in northern California, both made it successfully through the first weekend of competition by winning best-of-3 series, and those schools will play another set of best-of-3 series this weekend, with berths in the state Final Four at stake.

Not every nationally-prominent team went unscathed last week as No. 15 Central Arizona (now No. 35) lost in two straight games in the first round of the Arizona JC championship series for the second straight year, while No. 16 Walters State (now No. 36) unexpectedly fell in the Tennessee state tournament.

Four NJCAA Division II schools remain ranked in PG’s all-inclusive Top 50, led by No. 18 Mesa (Ariz.) CC. D-II schools will stage their own Junior College World Series, also from May 24-31, in Enid, Okla.