Riverside City enters 2021 football season ranked No. 2 by College Football America Yearbook; 15 CCCAA teams ranked
RIVERSIDE - The reigning California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State and National Champion Riverside City College football team has been tabbed the second-best squad in the nation by College Football America entering into the 2021 season.
The rankings are comprised of teams from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and the CCCAA – the two major sponsors of two-year football.
Second-ranked Riverside is the top California school and joins 14 other CCCAA schools on the list. The most noteworthy being No. 6 College of San Mateo, who the Tigers defeated in the 2019 CCCAA State Championship game 31-13.
The Tigers will face off against five of the top 30 teams beginning with No. 20 Long Beach in week two. No. 13 Saddleback will follow in week three for the team's home opener. A pair of top-ranked teams will play the Tigers on the road with No. 11 Canyons in week five and No. 27 Mt. San Antonio in week seven. Riverside will round out regular season play at home with No. 30 Chaffey.
Also featured on the list is No. 8 Modesto, No. 15 American River, No. 18 Fresno City, No. 22 Ventura, No. 24 City College of San Francisco, No. 25 Butte, No. 28 Fullerton, and No. 29 Laney.
Head Coach Tom Craft, who earned his 100th win at RCC in 2019, will bring back a squad that looks to defend its state title for the first time since 2009-10 when Mt. San Antonio won in back-to-back years.
Following the 2019 season, the Tigers successfully transferred 24 student-athletes from their roster with the number continuing to rise. These schools have featured major Division I including UCLA, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, UNLV, Fresno State University and many more.
2021 College Football America Juco Preseason Top 30
1. Hutchinson
2. RIVERSIDE CITY
3. NW Mississippi
4. Snow
5. Mississippi Gulf Coast
6. COLLEGE OF SAN MATEO
7. East Mississippi
8. MODESTO
9. Iowa Western
10. Garden City
11. COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS
12. Cisco
13. SADDLEBACK
14. Independence
15. AMERICAN RIVER
16. Kilgore
17. Butler
18. FRESNO CITY
19. Lackawanna
20. LONG BEACH CITY
21. Hinds
22. VENTURA
23. Georgia Military
24. CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO
25. BUTTE
26. Trinity Valley
27. MT. SAN ANTONIO
28. FULLERTON
29. LANEY
30. CHAFFEY
(Nicho DellaValle, Riverside City College Athletics)