College of San Mateo takes over top spot in CCCSIA Football Poll but Fullerton is still pick among coaches

JCAB Coaches Poll

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The College of San Mateo has done something no other team has accomplished other than Fullerton College in the brief history of the California Community College Sports Information Association Football Poll, and that's enjoy the view as the top-ranked team in the state after taking over at No. 1 in this week's rankings.

While the two-time defending champion Hornets captured eight of the 13 first-place votes cast, the Bulldogs were able to win the war of points, garnering 241 to Fullerton's 239. Voters cast their decisions based on San Mateo's 42-0 win over then-No. 12 College of the Siskiyous last weekend while also considering the Hornets' tougher-than-expected 30-27 victory at Golden West that extended their winning streak to 20 games.

In fact, the baker's dozen ballots dispersed first-place votes to four different teams. San Mateo and No. 3 Riverside City each picked up a pair while the City College of San Francisco earned the other. San Mateo, Fullerton and Riverside City (226 points) are all within 15 points of each other in the poll, a grouping that will likely find some separation when the Hornets travel to Riverside to take on the Tigers in a clash of the titans on Saturday. American River, CCSF, Mt. San Antonio, College of the Canyons, Ventura, Laney and Long Beach City - all winners in their opening games last weekend - comprise the remainder of the top 10.

Six of the top 10 teams in this week's poll beat teams ranked in last week's top 20.

Fresno City, Butte, Saddleback, Southwestern and Cerritos occupy the Nos. 10 through 15 spots while Bakersfield, Sacramento City, Citrus, Palomar and Modesto fill out the rest of the sheet. Golden West's strong showing against Fullerton helped it gain 10 points from the pollsters and put the Rustlers among 18 teams receiving votes outside of the top 20.

Fullerton and Riverside will be meeting for the second time in their last few games after also squaring off for the Southern California Championship last year, a game won by the Hornets in a rout, 75-16. The Tigers opened their 2018 campaign with a 34-7 road win over then-No. 18 El Camino. NorCal Championship runner-up American River will face its second ranked foe in as many weeks and provide voters another top-10 matchup to consider when it visits No. 9 Laney - which beat then-No. 19 Modesto, 31-17 - on Friday. Mt. San Antonio, ranked sixth, will host #10 Long Beach City in another marquee showdown.

Saddleback was one of four teams to open the year with a loss against a ranked foe but still get a seat in the top 20. The No. 13 Gauchos will travel to No. 8 Ventura, No. 17 Sacramento City will look to rebound from its 28-14 season-opening defeat to American River when the Panthers go to CCSF on Friday, and No. 19 Palomar hosts No. 14 Southwestern in other top-20 matchups.

The JC Athletic Bureau's coaches poll didn't see a shakeup at the top with Fullerton holding down a comfortable lead but Riverside jumped from No. 4 to No. 2, dropping San Mateo and American River one spot to third and fourth, respectively. The Hornets gained 11 first-place votes in that poll while San Mateo picked up the other two, Golden West went from unranked all the way up to No. 16. Saddleback was the only team in last week's poll to fall out of the top 10, dropping to No. 13 and being replaced by Long Beach which went from No. 11 to No. 9.