HILLSBORO, Ore. – After closing out the regular season with a 44-6 rout of Mississippi Delta, Northwest has cracked the top five in the national "Dirty 30" rankings from JCGridiron.com.

Northwest (5-0) has risen in the polls all season long, starting out at No. 14 in the preseason rankings that were compiled in July.

Ahead of the Rangers is their next opponent, Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Bulldogs (5-0) have held steady at No. 2 for several weeks, only trailing Garden City (Kan.), who remains at No. 1 overall in anticipation of a spring season in 2021.

Other MACCC teams ranked in this week's poll include Hinds at No. 10, Jones College at No. 18 and Northeast at No. 21. East Central, Copiah-Lincoln, Coahoma, Pearl River and Itawamba also finish the 2020 season as bubble teams outside of the rankings.

Northwest and Mississippi Gulf Coast will meet for the MACCC Championship for the second consecutive season, as the Rangers hope to avenge last year's 22-19 loss. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5 in Perkinston and live coverage will be available on nwccrangers.com/watch.

Details regarding admission and ticketing procedures for the upcoming MACCC Championship will be released at a later date.