Navarro Football: Bulldogs picked second and third in SWJCFB preseason polls
Aug. 7—No true gambler would ever bet a dime on the SWJCFC's finish.
It's a close to call for two reasons: Too much parity and too unpredictable.
So on that note, let's take a look at the preseason polls, where Navarro's Bulldogs were picked second in the Coaches poll and third in the Media poll.
The coaches picked Kilgore to win the eight-team conference with 54 points, including three first-place votes and Navarro was picked to finish second with 53 points and two first-place votes.
Trinity Valley was third with 50 points and two-first-place votes and Mew Mexico Military Institute was fourth with 48 points and one first-place vote.
That same Trinity Valley team was picked to win the conference title in the Media poll, where the Cardinals had 50 points and three first-place votes and Kilgore slipped to No. 2 with 47 points and two first-place votes.
Navarro was picked third in the media poll with 43 points and two first-place votes and NMMI was the fourth pick with 40 points and no first-place votes.
Texas Football magazine picked the same four teams at the top of the conference in this order — 1) Kilgore, 2) TVCC, 3) Navarro and 4) NMMI.
The magazine wrote that "When it comes to a coach who will have his team ready when the SWJCFC playoffs begin, look no further than Ryan Taylor at Navarro. The Bulldogs are a consistent Top 15 team in the country."
The Dawgs, who finished third in the conference after losing a 25-24 heartbreaker at the buzzer in the semifinals to NMMI, bring back just 13 players — six on offense and seven on defense.
But one of those players is Dane Jentsch, who was an honorable mention NJCAA All-American quarterback. Jentsch led the nation in passing efficiency rating (170.1) and finished second in pass completion percentage (71.1). He is one of only 13 players returning from Navarro's 2022 roster.
Well, that's a start — a start in the SWJCFC, a conference full of parity and unpredictability.
SWJCFC COACHES POLL
# TEAM (1sts).....Points
1, Kilgore (3)............54
2. Navarro (2)..........53
3. TVCC (2)...............50
4. NMMI (1).............48
5. Tyler.....................31
6. Blinn.....................24
7. NEO A&M............16
8. Cisco.....................11
SWJCFC MEDIA POLL
# TEAN (1sts)....Points
1. TVCC (3)...............50
2. Kilgore (2)............47
3. Navarro (2)..........43
4. NMMI...................40
5. Tyler......................29
6. Blinn......................21
7. NEO A&M.............12
8. Cisco........................9
