JCGridiron launches Flag Football’s Filthy 20
JCGridiron.com introduces the first-ever edition of the Filthy 20, which is the most complete junior college flag football rankings one can find.
After ranking tackle football for 21 years and counting with the popular Dirty 30 Rankings, JCGridiron recognizes the sudden emergence of flag football and looks forward to publicizing the game with the same fervor it has for the men’s game for the past 2+ decades.
The bottom line is, flag football has caught our attention. The state of California had three teams 12 months ago and now has close to 20 to start the 2026 campaign. The same can be said for the NJCAA ranks, which have added a number of new programs this season.
The Filthy 20 will be released every two weeks, starting with this edition.
In addition, we recommend following the coverage of college flag football over at womenscollegeflagfootball.com for their weekly college rankings, which includes teams at all levels of college flag football.
Our Fab Five:
- 1) Daytona State leads out of the gate after starting 6-0 this season. The Falcons have a pair of wins against top-50 teams in the womenscollegeflagfootball.com composite rankings. Daytona State has a huge matchup coming on Wednesday when they host #3 Florida Gateway, who is the three-time NJCAA national champions.
- 2) Wallace State of Alabama had an amazing fall, finishing 20-0 and capturing the first-ever Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) title with a 27-6 win against Shelton State in November. Unfortunately, the Alabama ranks are not competing during the spring like every other conference in the country, which will drop them in the rankings as time goes on.
- 3) What can be said about Florida Gateway that hasn’t already been said? The Timberwolves are the original champions of JUCO flag football after capturing what was the first-ever NJCAA national title in 2023 and backing it up with wins in 2024 and 2025. Florida Gateway has started 7-1 so far this season. The lone blemish being a 25-19 setback against four-year Life University. We’ll see if it gives them new life against top-ranked Daytona State this week.
- 4) Saddleback College is in its second year of competition in California and has had a busy schedule, going 12-0 over the first 10 weeks of competition. The Bobcats hosted and won the first-ever 8-team community college tournament in California two weeks back when they defeated Cypress College in triple-overtime in what is being called the Bobcat Bowl. The meat of Saddleback’s schedule is upcoming as a rigorous Orange Empire Conference schedule starts this week.
- 5) Irvine Valley College is just 14 miles away from the aforementioned Saddleback and the two schools are in the same school district. Both are really good at flag football as well as Irvine Valley has started 8-1 in 2026. The Lasers, like Saddleback, are in their second season of competition. IVC had one setback against Ventura College (6-2), who sits right behind them in the Filthy 20 Rankings.
The rest of the JCGridiron.com Filthy 20 Rankings follow.
The Filthy 20
| Rank | School | City | 2026 Record |
| 1 | Daytona State | Daytona Beach, FL | 6-0 |
| 2 | Wallace State | Hanceville, AL | 0-0 (20-0 in fall) |
| 3 | Florida Gateway | Columbia County, FL | 7-1 |
| 4 | Saddleback | Mission Viejo, CA | 12-0 |
| 5 | Irvine Valley | Irvine, CA | 8-1 |
| 6 | Ventura | Ventura, CA | 6-2 |
| 7 | Shelton State | Tuscaloosa, AL | 0-0 (11-6 in fall) |
| 8 | Cypress | Cypress, CA | 9-3 |
| 9 | Snead State | Boaz, AL | 0-0 (13-8 in fall) |
| 10 | Golden West | Huntington Beach, CA | 4-3 |
| 11 | Calhoun | Decatur, AL | 0-0 (13-6 in fall) |
| 12 | Bryant & Stratton | Wauwatosa, WI | 0-0 |
| 13 | Santa Barbara City | Santa Barbara, CA | 2-3 |
| 14 | DuPage | Glen Ellyn, IL | 1-1 |
| 15 | Pratt | Pratt, KS | 2-1 |
| 16 | Norco | Norco, CA | 3-1 |
| 17 | North Central Missouri | Trenton, MO | 0-5 |
| 18 | MiraCosta | Oceanside, CA | 2-5 |
| 19 | East Los Angeles | Monterey Park, CA | 4-9 |
| 20 | Hartford | Hartford County, MD | 0-0 |
Others on the Bubble: Diablo Valley (CA), Bishop State (AL), Harrisburg Area (PA)
