Photo courtesy of NorthwestNorthwest head coach Benjy Parker and his Ranger football program have earned a preseason ranking of No. 11 in the nation by Street & Smith's magazine.
Rangers ranked preseason No. 11 by Street & Smith's
After five straight Top 10 finishes and a combined 44-12 record since 2015, Northwest has received a No. 11 preseason ranking in Street & Smith's 2020 College Football Preview magazine.
Compiled by junior college sportswriter Tony Jimenez for the nationally distributed college football magazine that is currently available on newsstands nationwide, Street & Smith's Top 25 preseason rankings considered all 127 of the nation's two-year schools that feature football programs, including the 69 competing members of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA).
Defending MACJC and NJCAA national champion Mississippi Gulf Coast checks in at No. 1 with Hutchinson (Kan.) checking in at No. 2 overall. Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference powerhouses Butler and Independence are ranked at third and fifth, respectively, while Riverside (Calif.) picked up the No. 4 slot.
Other MACJC members ranked included Jones College at No. 7, East Mississippi at No. 13, Hinds at No. 18 and East Central at No. 21.
Northwest is coming off an 8-3 season, which yielded a sixth straight postseason appearance and the ninth playoff berth in the last 10 seasons. The Rangers' postseason run came to a heartbreaking end with a 22-19 loss to Mississippi Gulf Coast in the MACJC Championship.
Since taking over the reins as head coach in 2016, Benjy Parker has guided the Rangers to a pair of bowl appearances and a combined record of 33-11 overall and 19-5 in MACJC North Division competition. The Rangers have also sent 126 total student-athletes to four-year programs, including 90 to the Division I level.
Northwest is tentatively scheduled to kick off the 2020 campaign at Copiah-Lincoln on Thursday, Aug. 27.