NJCAA fixes poll error; 'Hounds ranked 16th

Fans weren't the only ones confused when they went online to the National Junior College Athletic Association's web site Tuesday and didn't find Fort Scott Community College ranked despite it's victory over then No. 10 Garden City Saturday night at Frary Field.

Well, Greyhound fans, it wasn't just you.

Jayhawk Conference officials were every bit as puzzles since Region VI men's chairman Tom Saia, who is the athletic director at Cowley College in Arkansas City, included Fort Scott when he submitted his vote on Monday.

Simply put, the NJCAA goofed.

"The NJCAA lost the votes," Fort Scott athletic director Bob Marshall said this morning. "The conference was confused. The commissioner (Bryce Roderick) contacted Wayne Baker at the NJCAA. They found the votes for Fort Scott in their files."

Without admitting its mistake online, the NJCAA retabulated the votes and put the revised poll online this morning. In it, Fort Scott is the 16th-ranked team in the nation. Garden City fell five spots to 15th.

"At about 4:15, I got an e-mail from the conference commissioner," Marshall said. "Garden is still 15th, which I don't understand. (Saia) voted and sent in the reports from Region VI. He had Fort Scott higher than Garden City."

Nonetheless, the Greyhounds are ranked for the first time since Oct. 9, 2001, when they were placed No. 13 after beating then-No. 1 Garden City, 24-17, at Frary Field. Injuries hit the Greyhounds over the course of the next two weeks and they fell out of the poll, finishing 5-4 after three straight losses.

Butler fell from No. 1 to No. 4 after its unexplainable loss to Highland. The Grizzlies lost to the Scotties for the first time since 1978. It was their first regular-season loss, ending a 38-game streak, since falling to Garden City, 14-7, in 2001.

Butler head coach Troy Morrell has lost only three regular-season games as Butler's head coach over 10 years (46-3). Two of the three were to Garden City. Morrell is 70-10 overall at Butler.

Coffeyville moved up two places to No. 7 after its 59-7 whipping of Dodge City.

The first round of the Region VI Playoffs begin Sunday with No. 3 Fort Scott, 6-3, traveling to No. 2 Coffeyville, 7-2. No. 4 Garden City, 6-3, heads to No. 1 Butler, 8-1. The winners will meet in the AT&T Region VI Championship Game at Wichita State University November 12.

Blinn, Texas, moved up to No. 1 after Butler's loss. The Buccaneers are 9-0 and received each of the seven first-place votes. Blinn won the Southwest Junior College Football Conference regular-season title and will host Cisco -- which has lost three straight games after a 6-0 start -- Saturday in a first-round playoff game. Blinn defeated Navarro, 48-18, last Saturday.

Blinn is looking to receive a post-season bowl bid for the first time since 1999. Coincidentally, that last bowl was the Mineral Water Bowl at Excelsior Springs, Mo., where the Bucs defeated Fort Scott, 29-20.