COLORADO SPRINGS – The final NJCAA / JC Football.com Poll of the 2008 season has been released and to no surprise Butler Community College (Kan.) was unanimously voted No. 1. The Grizzlies earned the top spot after their dramatic 37-30 double overtime victory over previous No. 1 Snow College (Utah) Dec. 6 at the NJCAA National Championship Game in the Zions Bank Top of the Mountains Bowl.
Butler’s win gave them their second-straight national championship as they were co-national champions with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College last season. The Grizzlies now have six national championships (1981, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2008) in football, including three within the last six years. Butler is now the first program in NJCAA history to twice repeat as national champions.
Butler head coach Troy Morrell (pictured right) now has a 95-11 overall record (.897) in nine seasons at the helm, including three national titles and eight conference titles.
Snow finishes the season with an 11-1 record and No. 2 in the poll. The Badgers have finished win an 11-1 record each of the past three seasons and have now twice ended the season ranked second in the final poll (2006).
Harper College (Ill.) moves up to No. 3 in the rankings after defeating then No. 8 Phoenix College (Ariz.) 39-38 in the Valley of the Sun Bowl on Dec. 6. The Hawks rallied from a 38-6 deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Bears on their home field. As the highest ranking non-scholarship program, Harper is also awarded the NJCAA Non-Scholarship Championship for 2008 – an award the NJCAA has given out annually since 2000.
After winning the first-ever Mississippi Bowl in dominating fashion, a 41-7 victory over then third-ranked Georgia Military College, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College ends 2008 ranked fourth in the poll. The Bulldogs end with a 10-2 record.
After holding the No. 1 post for seven weeks in the regular season, Navarro College (Texas), 10-1, finishes 2008 at No. 5.
Fort Scott Community College (Kan.), Glendale Community College (Ariz.), East Mississippi Community College, Georgia Military College, and Iowa Central Community College round out the top 10.
