Junior college football is back, and Mississippi is expected to have at least a few teams competing to be the best in the nation.
Ahead of Thursday’s opening slate of games, which includes six in-state matchups, the NJCAA released its Division I poll with four Mississippi schools being included. Those were Northwest Mississippi Community College, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, and East Mississippi Community College.
Northwest was the highest-ranked team on the list after winning the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference championship a season ago. The Rangers landed at No. 4 in the rankings and return enough talent for pollsters to think they can be atop the state again.
What about the team that Northwest beat in the 2025 MACCC championship? Mississippi Gulf Coast wasn’t far behind, coming in at No. 5 in the preseason poll.
Co-Lin was featured in the top 10 as the No. 9 placeholder. The Wolves, like Northwest and Mississippi Gulf Coast, reached the MACCC semifinals last year before falling to the Rangers.
Arguably the most storied JUCO program in Mississippi and once the subject of Netflix’s “Last Chance U,” East Mississippi is still a year in and year out contender. Buddy Stephens’ crew went an unanticipated 7-3 a season ago but could be back with a vengeance.
Here’s what else to know before Mississippi’s JUCO football season kicks off.
Teams on the fringe
While four of Mississippi’s 14 teams cracked the initial NJCAA Division I rankings, that doesn’t mean that number won’t go up throughout the season.
Both Hinds and Itawamba received votes to be in the poll. Hinds is working to maintain momentum under former NFL player Chris Jones, who will be in his second season as head coach. Former Ole Miss standout Travis Macon leads the charge at Itawamba, where he hopes to improve on a 5-4 mark in 2025.
Opening games
Thursday marks the first time in nearly nine months we’ve had JUCO football in Mississippi. The last game was Dec. 6, 2025, when Northwest fell to eventual national runner-up Hutchinson in the NJCAA Division I playoffs.
Here’s the full slate of games for week one:
- 3 Northwest at Jones College (7 p.m.)
- Coahoma at No. 5 Mississippi Gulf Coast (7 p.m.)
- Mississippi Delta at No. 9 Co-Lin (6:30 p.m.)
- 11 East Mississippi at Southwest (7 p.m.)
- East Central at Northeast (6:30 p.m.)
- Holmes at Pearl River (7 p.m.)
- Itawamba at Hinds (6:30 p.m.)
New schedule
For the first time in roughly 25 years, Mississippi junior colleges are moving from nine to 10 regular season games.
The schedule change was enacted for a couple of reasons: to allow each school to have five home games every season and to give players more chances to rack up film in hopes of moving on to a four-year school.
“It’s a phenomenal move by our league,” Northeast head coach Greg Davis said during the offseason. “I think it’s going to be a beneficial situation for all our kids to showcase their abilities. It’s a great opportunity to get some extra experience for our players.”
To make the new structure possible, the MACCC decided to remove the bye week and eliminate its semifinal round, sending the North and South division winners directly to the conference championship.
Names to watch
Mississippi has several players included in 247Sports’ JUCO rankings.
The top prospect is Christian Mays, a defensive lineman at Northeast ranked as the No. 4 recruit in the nation. Mays stands at 6-foot-5, weighs 340 pounds, and is committed to Tennessee. As a freshman in 2025, he had five tackles for loss and a sack across eight games working from the interior part of the line.
Others listed in the top 40 are Mississippi Gulf Coast wide receiver Royale Shelvy (No. 7), Co-Lin offensive tackle Antrale Newson (No. 11), East Mississippi defensive lineman Kindal Moorehead Jr. (No. 17), East Central offensive guard Robert McMillian (No. 20), Hinds wide receiver De’Traun Brown (No. 23), East Mississippi wide receiver Reggie Jackson (No. 30), Coahoma edge Derion Gould (No. 31), Holmes wide receiver Tyran Mosley (No. 33), Hinds cornerback Raymon McKneely (No. 35), Mississippi Gulf Coast edge Tyler Jenkins (No. 36), and Hinds wide receiver Braishun Forbes (No. 39).
