COLBY, Kan. – Five-time defending Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference champion Hutchinson Community College has once again been picked to finish atop the KJCCC standings after receiving a league-best 48 points and six of seven first-place votes following a vote of league coaches as part of the 2026 KJCCC Football Preseason Order of Finish.
The Blue Dragons went unbeaten last year in conference play as part of a 10-0 regular season and advanced to the 2025 NJCAA Division 1 Football National Title game, where they fell to national Champion Iowa Western Community College, and are expected to again be a contender within the NJCAA. Under the guidance of seventh-year head coach Drew Dallas, HCC was picked to finish no lower than second by any of the seven KJCCC football coaches in the preseason poll.
After earning a share of the 2024 KJCCC football regular season title and finishing second last season in the conference standings, Coffeyville Community College was picked to finish second in the league after earning the lone remaining first-place vote as part of a 38-point total in the poll. The Red Ravens have put together a 9-3 season and a 7-3 season under head coach Nick Dobler, along with a combined record of 10-2 in the KJCCC during his first two seasons at the helm of Coffeyville.
A 9-3 record for Coffeyville last year and a share of the KJCCC regular season title has the Red Ravens looking to have another strong year despite being picked fourth in the preseason poll with 29 points, while Dodge City was picked fifth with 21 total points. The Conquistadors went 6-4 last year under first-year head coach Ryan Lusby despite allowing the third-fewest yards per game in the KJCCC (297.3).
Under a new regime out west, Garden City Community College was picked to finish third with first-year head coach Tony Koehling and the Broncbusters earning 35 total points to finish ahead of Butler Community College, which was picked to finish fourth with 30 total points in the preseason poll. The Broncbusters finished last season with a 6-5 record and 3-3 mark in the KJCCC, with two of their three conference losses last season coming by a total of five points, while Butler is coming off a 7-3 campaign that included a 4-2 mark in the KJCCC under now-head coach Kyle Woodall. The rest of the KJCCC preseason poll saw Dodge City picked to finish fifth with 21 total points, followed by Independence (15 points) and Highland (nine points) in seventh.
With Northeastern Oklahoma A&M joining the football scheduling alliance that was already in place with the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference, all seven KJCCC football schools will have a guaranteed 10-game schedule. Four of the seven conference schools will play an additional 11th game against a non-conference foe, with three of the four teams taking on opponents from the Southwest Junior College Football Conference. Kicking off the season on Thursday, August 20th, will be Hutchinson and Dodge City, as the Blue Dragons will host Cisco College at Gowans Stadium at 7 PM while the Conquistadors will travel to New Mexico Military Institute for a 7 PM (MDT) kickoff in Roswell, NM. A full schedule for all seven KJCCC teams can be found here: 2026 KJCCC Football Schedule.
