Peru State Picked Fourth in Preseason Football Poll for the Heart North
OVERLAND PARK, KS - The Heart of America Athletic Conference football coaches selected their 2024 Heart North and South Preseason Coaches' Polls this week, as Grand View and Benedictine were picked to top the Heart North and South Divisions respectively.
Grand View advanced to the NAIA-Football Championship Series Quarterfinals last season and has won the last five-straight Heart North conference championships and eight of the last nine.
The Heart will feature seven teams in the Heart North and seven in the Heart South. The 14 Heart football teams comprise the largest football conference in the NAIA.
St. Ambrose joins the Heart North for its first season in the conference in 2024.
2024 Heart North Preseason Coaches' Poll
Place School (1st Place Votes) Total Votes
1st Grand View (6) – 36 Votes
2nd Graceland (1) – 30 Votes
3rd William Penn – 24 Votes
4th Peru State – 23 Votes
T-5th Clarke – 12 Votes
T-5th Culver-Stockton – 12 Votes
7th St. Ambrose – 10 Votes
The 2024 Heart Football Media Day will take place on Monday, August 5, as all 14 head coaches and select student-athletes will be featured on Zoom interviews. Each interview will be conducted by Heart Correspondent and KCTV-5 Anchor, Jillian Carroll Letrinko
Each head coach and student-athletes will preview their team with their University Sports Information Directors and local media members throughout the day.
You can watch the interviews on the Heart YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQAVqq0dOoBjBxqZcmyhdAA.
Or on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeartSportsNews
And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartsportsnews
The Benedictine Ravens are on top of the Heart South Coaches' Preseason Poll, the Ravens tied with Baker and MidAmerica Nazarene last year for the Heart regular season conference championship, as each team went 4-1 in Heart play.
Baker advanced to the NAIA-FCS and earned a playoff win over Louisiana Christian, before falling to Georgetown (Ky.) in the second round.
This also marks the first year William Woods University joins the Heart in the sport of football. They will compete in the Heart South Division.
2024 Heart South Preseason Coaches' Poll
Place School (1st Place Votes) Total Votes
1st Benedictine (5) – 35 Votes
2nd Baker (2) – 31 Votes
3rd MidAmerica Nazarene – 27 Votes
4th Missouri Valley – 19 Votes
5th Missouri Baptist – 17 Votes
6th Central Methodist – 12 Votes
7th – William Woods – 6 Votes
