CHARLOTTE, N.C. – For the fifth straight year, Northwest football will kickoff the regular season ranked in the NJCAA Preseason Top 20 poll.

Northwest checks in at No. 9 overall in the rankings, which were released Monday afternoon. The ranking is two slots lower than the No. 7 spot the Rangers finished with in the final 2018 poll.

This marks the 54th consecutive poll featuring Northwest dating back to 2015, with 51 of those weeks spent ranked within the Top 10.

Northwest is one of five MACJC programs to crack the preseason poll, including defending MACJC and national champion East Mississippi at No. 1. Last season's conference runner-up Jones College checks in at No. 4.

Other MACJC programs ranked include Mississippi Gulf Coast (12th) and Copiah-Lincoln (17th), with Northeast Mississippi, East Central, Holmes and Hinds also receiving votes.

Northwest also received preseason recognition from two other polls over the summer, with JCGridiron.com ranking the Rangers at No. 7 overall and Street & Smith's placing NWCC at No. 12. Those polls also included members of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA).

Northwest will kickoff the 2019 campaign at East Central on Thursday, August 29 at 6:30 p.m. before opening the home portion of the schedule on Thursday, September 5 against Southwest Mississippi at 7 p.m.

This year will once again feature live HD broadcasts for each contest at nwccrangers.com/watch, with Jeremy Kennedy and John Luke McCord returning for their third season on the call. Live stats for each game will also be provided through nwccrangers.com.