August 14, 2013

EPHRAIM, Utah—The Snow College Badgers are ranked second in the 2013 preseason NJCAA football poll released yesterday. The Badgers, who return five starters on offense and four on defense, finished the 2012 season with a record of 11-1 and were ranked third in the final season national ranking after beginning the season in the number nine position in the poll.

“The preseason rankings are mostly recognition of the performance of last year’s team,” said Britt Maughan, Snow’s first year head coach. “Snow College has been good for many years and this ranking is a reflection of the great teams of the past.”

However, Maughan went on to say, “We’re excited about the upcoming year. We have a lot of returning talent and our crop of incoming players is very impressive.”

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, which was 9-2 last season and finished sixth following the 2012 campaign, starts this season with the number one ranking. Navarro College (Texas), defending national champion Iowa Western and Butler Community College (Kansas) round out the top five.

Snow, which plays in the Western States Football League (WSFL), will have its hands full right out of the gate as the league begins a new schedule format which eliminates all but one non-conference game. The Badgers open their season next Saturday (Aug. 24) when they visit the Glendale Gauchos in Arizona in a conference match-up.

Week 2 will see Snow’s only non-conference game of the season when Georgia Military, which was the only team to beat Snow last year, will be in Ephraim. The Badgers will then start a seven-game string of WSFL games without a break to close out the regular season. On October 26 the WSFL will begin a unique three-week playoff system which could mean additional home games if the Badgers are able to defend their regular season league championship from last year.

“The WSFL is strong from top to bottom, so we are going to have to be on top of our game every week,” Maughan said. “I think the new playoff system is going to be very exciting for everyone.”

WSFL foe Arizona Western starts ranked No. 11 and first week opponent Glendale is No. 20. Georgia Military is at 22 and the WSFL’s New Mexico Military is at 25.