Wildcats Ranked No. 17 in NAIA Preseason Top-25 Poll

BALDWIN CITY – With the season opener less than three weeks away, Baker football will begin the year ranked No. 17 as the preseason NAIA Football GoRout Top-25 Poll was released on Monday afternoon.

The Wildcats, who peaked at No. 20 in last year's final poll, sit at No. 17 in the rankings after receiving 107 votes and are the highest-ranked team in the Heart South with Benedictine (No. 19) and MidAmerica Nazarene (No. 23) also landing in the top-25. Grand View was the lone representative for the Heart North with the Vikings opening up at No. 5 in the poll.

Baker was predicted to finish second in the conference behind Benedictine in the Heart Football Coaches' Preseason Poll that was released in late July. In 2023, the Heart South featured a three-way tie for the conference championship with MNU joining the Wildcats and Ravens as Heart South Tri-Champions.

In their first year with head coach Miguel Regalado back on the BU sideline, the Wildcats went 9-3 overall in 2023 and reached the NAIA playoffs for the 20th time in school history, earning a home playoff win over Louisiana Christian in the first round of the NAIA FCS. As the NAIA's all-time winningest program with a total of 646 wins, the Wildcats won eight or more games for the 10th time since 2012 and claimed their first conference championship since winning six straight titles from 2015-2020.

Baker returns eight all-conference players from last year, including both the reigning Heart Co-Offensive Player of the Year in Truman Juelsgaard and Heart Defensive Player of the Year in Canon Karn.

The Wildcats open up the 2024 season at home with a matchup against St. Ambrose, who enters its first year in the Heart North, on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 11:00 a.m. in Liston Stadium.

To view the full NAIA Top-25 poll, click here.

#BakerBuildsChampions