CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For a fourth consecutive year, Northwest will kickoff the football season ranked in the NJCAA Preseason Top 20 Poll.

Northwest checks in at No. 6, one spot higher than its 2017 final NJCAA ranking.

It marks a 41st consecutive poll that the Rangers have been ranked dating back to 2015, with 38 of those weeks spent within the Top 10.

Northwest is one of six MACJC programs to crack the preseason poll, including defending MACJC and national champion East Mississippi at No. 1. The Rangers upset top-ranked EMCC last season, 61-38, before suffering a 67-66 double overtime loss to the Lions in the conference championship at Bobby Franklin Field.

Other MACJC programs ranked include Jones County (9th), Hinds (13th) and Itawamba (16th), while Holmes and Mississippi Gulf Coast were receiving votes.

Northwest will kickoff the 2018 campaign by hosting East Central on Thursday, August 30 at Bobby Franklin Field.