Off to a 6-0 start to the season, the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team appeared in the first regular-season NJCAA Division I men’s basketball poll of the season, which was released on Tuesday.

The Blue Dragons were ranked 15th in the first poll of the season. The Blue Dragons weren’t ranked in the preseason NJCAA poll.

This marks the sixth-straight season that the Blue Dragons have appeared in an NJCAA regular-season poll.

Last season the Blue Dragons started the season ranked No. 4 in the preseason poll and climbed all the way to No. 1 in early January after starting the season with 18-straight victories. The Blue Dragons finished the season ranked No. 25.

The Blue Dragons will get a key test this week in their only game of the week on Thursday night when 4-1 Missouri State University-West Plains comes to the Sports Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff. West Plains, a 2011 NJCAA Tournament participant, is receiving votes in this week’s poll.

Jayhawk East favorite Coffeyville is ranked No. 2 in this week’s poll behind the nation’s new No. 1 team, Monroe College. Seward County, Kansas City, Barton and Cowley College are Jayhawk Conference teams receiving votes.

(HCC Sports Information)