Heart Adds Two Football Programs-Preseason Poll Released

The Heart of America Athletic Conference announced the addition of the St. Ambrose University and William Woods University football programs as Associate Members to the conference. Both programs will join the Heart in the sport of football in the fall of 2024.

The Heart will now feature seven teams in the Heart North and seven in Heart South, becoming the largest football conference in the NAIA:

2024 Heart North Division:

Grand View University
William Penn University
Peru State College
St. Ambrose University
Graceland University
Culver-Stockton College
Clarke University

2024 Heart South Division

Baker University
Benedictine College
William Woods University
Central Methodist University
Missouri Valley College
Missouri Baptist University
MidAmerica Nazarene University

William Woods just announced the start-up of a football program in the spring.

For this upcoming football season, Grandview and Benedictine were picked to win their respective divisions in the preseason coaches poll. In the South Division, Missouri Valley finished 4th and Central Methodist was 6th. In the North Division, Culver-Stockton placed 3rd in the poll.

2023 Heart South Preseason Coaches’ Poll

Place School (1st Place Votes) Total Votes

1st Benedictine (5) – 25 Votes

2nd MidAmerica Nazarene (1) – 20 Votes

3rd Baker – 18 Votes

4th Missouri Valley – 11 Votes

5th Missouri Baptist – 10 Votes

6th Central Methodist – 6 Votes

2023 Heart North Preseason Coaches’ Poll

Place School (1st Place Votes) Total Votes

1st Grand View (4) – 24 Votes

2nd Peru State (1) – 19 Votes

3rd Culver-Stockton – 15 Votes

4th William Penn (1) – 14 Votes

5th Graceland – 13 Votes

6th Clarke – 6 Votes