EMCC Lions tabbed preseason No. 1 in JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 Football Rankings

SCOOBA – With the kickoff to the 2016 college football season less than two months away, East Mississippi Community College has been tabbed as the nation's top-ranked junior college football team in the JCGridiron.com Preseason Dirty 30 Rankings for the upcoming season.

Published annually by Brad Hoiseth for the past 12 years, the JCGridiron.com Preseason Dirty 30 Rankings considered all 138 of the nation's two-year schools that feature football programs.  Along with the 68 junior colleges affiliated with the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), the preseason rankings also included the 70 members of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA).

Following the three-time national champion EMCC Lions in the preseason rankings are reigning JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 national champion City College of San Francisco, Iowa Western, Lackawanna and defending NJCAA champion Northwest Mississippi.

Also representing the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) in this year's JCGridiron.com Preseason Dirty 30 Rankings are eighth-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast along with No. 16 East Central and 28^th-ranked Copiah-Lincoln.

Two years ago, head coach Buddy Stephens' 2014 EMCC Lions became the first program to win three JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 national titles by completing a third undefeated (12-0) season during a four-year span en route to also claiming the NJCAA and MACJC titles.