Off and running

The 2026 season is off and running and most of the teams in the nation have played their opening games.  The top 11 in the rankings all remained in tact but a number of close finishes in week one were the story of the week.

Down in Mississippi you had three games decided by one point on Thursday night and one of the perceived favorites had its season take a twist when previously ranked #12 Copiah-Lincoln came up on the wrong end of a 25-24 game against Mississippi Delta.  East Central also won by a point when it defeated previously ranked #26 Northeast 27-26 and #24 Itawamba bested previous #22 Hinds (28-27) to start the season with a win.  Copiah-Lincoln dropped 22 spots and off the Dirty 30 big board following the loss.

The top 11 teams were fairly dominant, winning by big margins across the board.  #2 Hutchinson improved to 2-0 with a 76-3 beatdown of Ellsworth.  Top-ranked San Mateo opened with a 49-7 thumping over a decent Sequoias squad.  Iowa Western clobbered Highland, 71-0.

A handful of decent games are on tap for this weekend:

#54 Sierra at #1 San Mateo
#3 Iowa Western at #33 Coffeyville
#5 Golden West at #16 RCC 3C2A GAME OF THE WEEK
#8 Gulf Coast at #6 Northwest (Thursday) NJCAA GAME OF THE WEEK
#9 Mt. San Antonio at #29 San Diego Mesa
#31 Hinds at #10 East Mississippi
#25 NEO at #13 Butler
#40 Sacramento City at #14 Butte
#44 Moorpark at #18 Cerritos
#35 Ventura at #21 Fullerton
#36 East Central at #24 Itawamba (Thursday)

Just a reminder, the Dirty 30 Rankings does not include games against non-affiliated (NJCAA or 3C2A) programs in its rankings.  Club teams, prep teams and four-year JV squads are not considered JUCO matchups in the eyes of JCGridiron.com. 

JCGridiron Dirty 30 Rankings (8/31/26)

Rank	School	City	Rcd	Next
1	San Mateo	San Mateo, CA	1-0	v Sierra
2	Hutchinson	Hutchinson, KS	2-0	bye
3	Iowa Western	Council Bluffs, IA	1-0	@ #33 Coffeyville
4	Tyler	Tyler, TX	1-0	@ Blinn
5	Golden West	Huntington Beach, CA	1-0	@ #16 Riverside City
6	Northwest	Senatobia, MS	1-0	v #8 Gulf Coast (TH)
7	Diablo Valley	Pleasant Hill, CA	1-0	v Sequoias (FR)
8	Gulf Coast	Perkinston, MS	1-0	@ #6 Northwest (TH)
9	Mt. San Antonio	Walnut, CA	1-0	@ #29 San Diego Mesa
10	East Mississippi	Scooba, MS	1-0	v #31 Hinds (TH)
11	Modesto	Modesto, CA	1-0	v Santa Rosa
12	Saddleback	Mission Viejo, CA	1-0	@ Citrus
13	Butler	El Dorado, KS	1-0	v #25 NEO
14	Butte	Oroville, CA	1-0	v #40 Sacramento City
15	El Camino	Torrance, CA	1-0	@ Canyons
16	Riverside City	Riverside, CA	1-0	v #5 Golden West
17	Georgia Military	Milledgeville, GA	1-1	v Central GA Tech
18	Cerritos	Norwalk, CA	0-1	v #44 Moorpark
19	Snow	Ephraim, UT	1-0	v Cisco
20	San Francisco	San Francisco, CA	1-0	v American River
21	Fullerton	Fullerton, CA	1-0	v #35 Ventura
22	Iowa Central	Fort Dodge, IA	0-1	v Ellsworth
23	Southwestern	Chula Vista, CA	1-0	v Grossmont
24	Itawamba	Fulton, MS	1-0	v #36 East Central (TH)
25	NE Oklahoma A&M	Miami, OK	1-0	@ #13 Butler
26	Palomar	San Marcos, CA	1-0	v East Los Angeles
27	Garden City	Garden City, KS	1-1	@ Dodge City
28	Fresno City	Fresno, CA	1-0	v Foothill
29	San Diego Mesa	San Diego, CA	1-0	v #9 Mt. San Antonio
30	Jones	Ellisville, MS	0-1	@ Coahoma

On the Bubble: Hinds (MS) 0-1, Mississippi Delta 1-0, Coffeyville (KS) 0-1, Copiah-Lincoln (MS) 0-1, Ventura (CA) 0-1, East Central (MS) 1-0, Pasadena City (CA) 0-1, Northeast (MS) 0-1, New Mexico Military 2-0, Sacramento City (CA) 0-1, DuPage (IL) 1-0, Los Medanos (CA) 1-0, Chaffey (CA) 1-0, Moorpark (CA) 0-1, Pearl River (MS) 1-0, Trinity Valley (TX) 0-1, Laney (CA) 1-0, Independence (KS) 0-1, Reedley (CA) 1-0, Allan Hancock (CA) 1-0, Navarro (TX) 0-0, Bakersfield (CA) 1-0, San Bernardino Valley (CA) 1-0, Sierra (CA) 0-1, Victor Valley (CA) 1-0