Pearl River Community College enters its third straight football season as the favorite to win the NJCAA championship.

The Wildcats are ranked first in the 2007 NJCAA/JCFootball.com preseason Top 25 poll which was released Wednesday. "It's good for the program, but we'll be wearing a bull's-eye," said Tim Hatten, PRCC head coach.

PRCC begins the quest for a fifth-straight MACJC state championship Aug. 30 against Mississippi Delta in Poplarville.

PRCC finished its 2006 campaign with a 10-2 record, losing 19-6 to Blinn (Tex.) College in the national title bout at the Pilgrim's Pride Bowl in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. Blinn is ranked No. 3 in the preseason balloting, behind No. 2 Snow (Utah).

"I think more than anything it's a tribute to the players that we've had here," Hatten said.

Hatten enters his sixth season with an impressive 47-7 record since his arrival in 2002. PRCC has won 19 MACJC championships in the history of the program.

Hatten is pleased with the group that has been working out on the Poplarville campus this summer.

"In terms of the way we handle ourselves, it's a good group," he said. "They work as hard as any group I've had. We have 82 players right now, and they're battling for 65 spots. So we've had 130 percent attendance."

Pearl River was the preseason favorite to win the title in 2005, but finished third behind national champion Glendale (Ariz.) and No. 2 Georgia Military. A year ago, the Wildcats wound up fourth after its bowl defeat behind champ Blinn, No. 2 Snow, and No. 3 Butler (Kan.).

In 2004, PRCC was ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll but cruised through the season unblemished to win the NJCAA championship with a 35-14 victory over then-defending champ Butler in the Dalton Defenders Bowl in Coffeyville, Kan.

Three other teams in the MACJC are in the Top 25 poll including No. 9 Mississippi Gulf Coast; No. 20 Northwest Mississippi, and No. 24 Copiah-Lincoln. Jones County and Itawamba also received votes in the balloting, but were unranked.

This is the first year JC Football.com has sponsored the weekly NJCAA poll.

"The poll got a little more validity with the JCfootball.com working with the NJCAA," Hatten said. "I'm pleased any time you can put Pearl River in print for accomplishments."