2026 3C2A JUCO ALUMNI LEADERBOARD
TOP 10 PROGRAMS
Golden West Leads the 3C2A Top 10 JUCO Alumni Leaderboard for 2026
Golden West (Orange Empire) leads the 3C2A Top 10 with a 180.0 Raw Alumni Placement Score (APS) — the highest Raw APS of any of the 87 reporting 3C2A colleges.
Across all 12 reporting 3C2A conferences, 87 colleges have combined for 1,679 alumni currently active on four-year rosters — spanning NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA, NCCAA, and USCAA programs. The 10 colleges below account for 349 of them, about 20.8%. Colleges are ranked by Alumni Placement Score (APS) rather than raw alumni count alone — a model built to reflect where a program’s alumni are playing, not just how many of them there are.
What Is Alumni Placement Score?
Alumni Placement Score (APS) weights each alumnus by the level they’re playing at: NCAA Division I counts for 5.0 points, NCAA Division II for 4.3, NAIA for 4.0, NCAA Division III for 3.7, NCCAA for 2.5, and USCAA for 2.0. A program’s Raw APS is the sum of those weighted points across all of its alumni. Two programs with the same number of alumni can post very different Raw APS totals if one is sending players to NCAA Division I rosters and the other to NCCAA rosters — a distinction a simple headcount can’t capture.
Golden West Edges Col of the Desert for the Top Spot
Col of the Desert (Inland Empire) has the most alumni of any 3C2A college (42 to Golden West’s 40), but Golden West’s 23 NCAA Division I alumni — the most in 3C2A — give it a 180.0 Raw APS to Col of the Desert’s 173.4. Half of Col of the Desert’s alumni (21) play at the NAIA level. Saddleback (157.7) and Riverside (157.6), both from the Orange Empire, are separated by a tenth of a point in third and fourth. Want the conference-by-conference picture instead? See the 3C2A Conference Rankings.
Top 10 Programs Across All of 3C2A (2026)
Orange Empire places 4 colleges among the 3C2A Top 10 alumni programs and Big 8 places 3; Inland Empire, Coast (South), and Coast (North) place 1 each. Col of the Desert (32-8-0) and Ohlone (40-10-0) share the best win percentage in the Top 10 at .800.
How These Rankings Are Calculated
Rankings are based on Alumni Placement Score (APS), which weights each alumnus by the level they’re playing at rather than counting every roster spot the same. Total alumni is highlighted alongside Raw APS in the table. When two or more colleges tie on Raw APS, the higher total alumni count breaks the tie; win percentage is the second-level tiebreaker if Total Alumni is also equal. See the 2026 APS methodology for the formula, weights, and FAQ.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which college has the highest Alumni Placement Score in all of 3C2A?
Golden West, from the Orange Empire Conference, leads all of 3C2A with a 180.0 Raw APS, built on 40 alumni. Col of the Desert (Inland Empire) has the most total alumni of any 3C2A college (42) and ranks second at 173.4.
How many colleges are eligible for the 3C2A Top 10 alumni rankings?
All 87 reporting colleges across the 12 3C2A conferences are eligible: Bay Valley, Big 8, Central Valley, Coast (North), Coast (South), Golden Valley, Inland Empire, Orange Empire, Pacific Coast Athletic, South Coast, Western State (North), and Western State (South). The Top 10 are the highest-scoring colleges by Raw APS.
How does the 3C2A Top 10 break down by conference?
Orange Empire places 4 colleges in the Top 10, Big 8 places 3, and Inland Empire, Coast (South), and Coast (North) each place 1. See the 3C2A Conference Rankings for how every conference compares by combined and average Raw APS.
What is Efficiency APS and why does it matter?
Efficiency APS divides a program’s Raw APS by its total alumni count, showing placement quality per alumnus rather than total volume. Ohlone (Coast (South)) posts the best Efficiency APS in the Top 10 at 4.63, despite ranking eighth in Raw APS.
What does “alumni on four-year rosters” mean?
It’s a count of former players from a college now active on a four-year college roster — NCAA Division I, II, or III, NAIA, NCCAA, or USCAA — at the time of reporting. It reflects the size and reach of a program’s four-year pipeline, not in-season transfer activity.
Explore more 3C2A rankings: Conference Rankings
3C2A conference leaderboards: Orange Empire · Big 8 · Western State (South) · South Coast · Inland Empire · Coast (South) · Coast (North) · Pacific Coast Athletic · Central Valley · Bay Valley · Golden Valley · Western State (North)
Looking for a different governing body? Browse all JUCO leaderboards — NJCAA, 3C2A, NWAC, and USCAA-2YR.
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Insights reflect data available at time of publication and are subject to change.
