East LA, San Francisco City Tabbed No. 1

It will have been 971 days since each of the California community college basketball teams have laced up. COVID-19 sidelined a majority of programs in 2020-21 with less than 12 teams competing in what could only be described as a disheveled season.

But that ends on November 1.

With a 5 pm start on November 1, Glendale at Chaffey colleges will usher in the 2021-22 season. And it appears this year's season will be a battle as a number of colleges have assembled some of the best talent that California community colleges have seen in several years. Each of the Final Eight teams from 2020, which was cancelled due to the pandemic, are ranked in this year’s preseason poll. Los Angeles Valley, at No. 17, is the lowest ranked team of the Final Eight teams.

Southern California appear to have a number of very talented and “heavy teams” in the south this year. According to coaches and scouting service personnel the region has 20 to 25 teams which are going to be very competitive.

East Los Angeles, a Final Eight qualifier in 2020, will begin the season as the south's top seed, followed by Fullerton, champions of the last state tournament in 2019, and then San Bernardino Valley, Ventura, Santiago Canyon, West Los Angeles, San Diego City, Riverside, Santa Monica and Allan Hancock.

The Orange Empire Conference appears to be the class of the south with five teams ranked in the top 16. Look for nightly battles when Fullerton (No. 2), Santiago Canyon (No. 5), Riverside (No. 8), Irvine Valley (No. 15) and Saddleback (No. 16) square off. The Inland Valley Athletic Conference appears to be a three-team race with San Bernardino Valley (No. 3), Mt. San Jacinto (No. 12) and Chaffey (No. 21) .

The Pacific Coast Conference might be set for its most competitive conference race in years as four teams begin the season ranked — Southwestern (No. 18), San Diego City (No. 7), MiraCosta, San Diego Miramar (No. 20). Interestingly, San Diego City is being coached by former “retired” Saddleback coach Andy Ground while Mitch Charlens assists the University of San Diego men's basketball team this season.

In the South Coast-North, No. 1 East Los Angeles is clearly the favorite, but Los Angeles Trade Tech (No. 25) will look to unseat the Huskies. The South Coast-South appears to have a race on its hands with Cerritos (No. 11), Los Angeles Harbor (No. 22), LA Southwest (No. 23) and Long Beach City (No. 24) battling it out. Cerritos and Long Beach City are known for their epic battles, but LA Southwest or LA Harbor may replace the Vikings in challenging Cerritos for the title.

Like the Orange Empire Conference, the Western State-South appears to be an overally competitive race with — West Los Angeles (No. 6), Santa Monica (No. 9), Citrus (No. 13) and Los Angeles Valley (No. 17) opening the season ranked in the top 20. Coaches were especially impressed by the talent assembled at West Los Angeles and Santa Monica. The Western State-North appears to be a two-team race as Ventura (No. 4) and Allan Hancock (No. 10) will once again battle for the conference title and a top regional seed.

Northern California is — again — led by San Francisco City, winners of three state championships since 2011. However, a number of northern programs appear to be positioned to challenge the Rams this season. Sequoias, West Valley, Chabot, Las Positas, Santa Rosa, Yuba, San Jose City and Columbia make up the region's preseason the top 10 teams.

Experts believe the North, although not as deep as the south, will be competitive through the top 8-12 teams, with the next 10 teams capable of being a spoiler. On paper it appears there are a number of interesting conference races, beginning with Coast-North. San Francisco City has won in the neighborhood of 16 conference championships under head coach Jason Labagh. Las Positas probably as an equal number of runner-up finishes. It will be interesting to see if this is the year Las Positas (No. 5) gets past San Francisco City, so mark the calendar: January 26 – Las Positas at San Francisco City and February 18 — San Francisco City at Las Positas to close out the regular season. The Coast-South appears to be a two-team race, but No. 3 West Valley is clearly the top choice. No. 17 Cabrillo, under first-year head coach James Page, could make a run, but it appears to be an uphill battle.

For years, Fresno City (No. 11) has been the king of the Central Valley Conference, but with a change in coaching leadership this might be the year the Giants of Sequoias corral the Rams. Sequoias opens the season at No. 2. Columbia (No. 10) also figures to have a say who wins the conference title. Surprisingly, the Big 8 Conference begins with just three ranked teams — No. 6 Santa Rosa, No. 24 San Joaquin Delta and No. 25 Sacramento City. Santa Rosa is the defending conference champions, and it appears the Cubs are positioned to defend its title.

The Bay Valley Conference could be an interesting race with Yuba (No. 7) looking to defend its title from No. 13 Contra Costa, a team several scouting services mentioned while compiling this year’s preseason poll. Los Medanos at No. 15 could be in the mix. And finally, the Golden Valley Conference appears to be once again a battle of Redwoods (No. 14) and Butte (No. 20). The defending conference champions, Redwoods is coming off a 22-win season in 2019-20, the only program to reach that mark in the conference and one of just 11 programs in the north to achieve 20 wins.

It appears that the top 15 teams in each region are very talented, but as a couple coaches indicated the top 15 teams better be “concerned” about next 10-15 programs because if they have improved since the fall showcases they will make it tough.

Here is to a competitive and safe 2021-22 season. Log on to the CCCMBCA website to follow the action. And, again, thank you for supporting our California Community Colleges student athletes. Also, please support the CCCMBCA with a purchase from its online store. A purchase from the online store helps fund two Beyond the Game scholarships for student athletes who are active in their community in order to better it.

Northern California Preseason Top 25
1. San Francisco City
2. Sequoias
3. West Valley
4. Chabot
5. Las Positas
6. Santa Rosa
7. Yuba
8. San Mateo
9. San Jose City
10. Columbia
11. Fresno City
12. Merritt
13. Contra Costa
14. Redwoods
15. Los Medanos
16. Foothill
17. Cabrillo
18. Diablo Valley
19. Gavilan
20. Butte
21. American River
22. Cosumnes River
23. Siskiyous
24. San Joaquin Delta
25. Sacramento City

Southern California Preseason Top 25
1. East Los Angeles
2. Fullerton
3. San Bernardino Valley
4. Ventura
5. Santiago Canyon
6. West LA
7. San Diego City
8. Riverside
9. Santa Monica
10. Allan Hancock
11. Cerritos
12. Mt. San Jacinto
13. Citrus
14. Antelope Valley
15. Irvine Valley
16. Saddleback
17. Los Angeles Valley
18. Southwestern
19. MiraCosta
20. San Diego Miramar 
21. Chaffey
22. Los Angeles Harbor
23. Los Angeles Southwest
24. Long Beach City
25. Los Angeles Trade Tech

Future State Poll Release Dates
(voting on Mondays until 3 pm; poll released Tuesday mornings by 10 am)
November 23
December 7
December 21
January 11
January 18
January 25
February 1
February 8
February 15
February 21 (based off regional seedings)