HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The defending national champion Hutchinson Community College football team will open the 2025 season where it left off last December, on top of the NJCAA rankings.
The Blue Dragons were voted the unanimous No. 1 team in the NJCAA Division I preseason poll released Monday, receiving all 12 first-place votes. Hutchinson finished the 2024 season 11-1 and captured the program’s second national championship with a 28-23 victory over Iowa Western in Canyon, Texas.
Last fall, the Blue Dragons climbed to No. 1 by the third week of the season and remained in the top three for the remainder of the year. They dominated No. 2 Georgia Military 63-21 in the semifinals before outlasting Iowa Western in the title game.
The poll marks the seventh consecutive season Hutchinson has opened with a national ranking. Under head coach Drew Dallas, the Blue Dragons have been ranked in 62 of the 68 polls released during his tenure, holding the No. 1 position 36 times. Hutchinson has now appeared in 49 straight national polls dating back to 2021.
The preseason Top 5 features Hutchinson, Iowa Western, Northwest Mississippi, Navarro and Georgia Military. Garden City, another member of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference, checked in at No. 7, while Butler was ranked No. 13. Coffeyville and Dodge City each received votes.
Hutchinson, which also won the 2021 national championship under Dallas, will try to add a third title to its resume this fall.
NJCAA Division I Football Preseason Top 15
- Hutchinson (Kan.) – 150 (12)
- Iowa Western – 140
- Northwest Mississippi – 122
- Navarro (Texas) – 117
- Georgia Military – 106
- Snow (Utah) – 105
- Garden City (Kan.) – 87
- Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) – 68
- Tyler (Texas) – 64
- Mississippi Gulf Coast – 47
- Kilgore (Texas) – 46
- Lackawanna (Pa.) – 41
- Butler (Kan.) – 30
- Trinity Valley (Texas) – 26
- Iowa Central – 23
Receiving votes: Coffeyville (Kan.), East Mississippi, East Central (Miss.), Dodge City (Kan.), Holmes (Miss.), Cisco (Texas), Itawamba (Miss.)
(First-place votes in parentheses)