Kansas City, Mo. - After a historic 2021 campaign, the Central Methodist Football program is ranked No. 18 in the NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Preseason poll, announced by the national office Monday.
Other Heart programs featured in the Top 25 include; No. 2 Grand View, No. 13 Baker, No. 22 Culver-Stockton. Benedictine College is receiving votes.
The Eagles claimed their first conference championship since 1975 with a 9-3 overall record and a perfect 5-0 mark in Heart South Division play last year. The nine wins tied for the most victories in school history, and as the Heart South Division Champion, the CMU clinched their first-ever berth into the NAIA-FCS playoffs.
Overall, Central was a perfect 6-0 at Davis Field, including notable upset victories over, at the time, (RV) Benedictine College and No. 5 Baker.
CMU opens the 2022 campaign against No. 2 Grand View Saturday, August 27th at 1:00 p.m. at Davis Field.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
- Each conference is given one rater for every four schools in the league.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first-place vote, 24 for second-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes."
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
| RANK | LAST | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | CONFERENCE | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Morningside (Iowa) [19] | Great Plains | 14-0 | 418 |
| 2 | 2 | Grand View (Iowa) | Heart - North | 14-1 | 402 |
| 3 | 4 | Northwestern (Iowa) | Great Plains | 12-2 | 377 |
| 4 | 3 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | Mid South | 12-1 | 373 |
| 5 | 5 | Marian (Ind.) | Mid-States East | 9-3 | 356 |
| 6 | 6 | Concordia (Mich.) | Mid-States East | 9-2 | 327 |
| 7 | 7 | Keiser (Fla.) | The Sun | 9-3 | 312 |
| 8 | 8 | Southwestern (Kan.) | Kansas Collegiate | 9-2 | 307 |
| 9 | 9 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | Appalachian | 9-3 | 288 |
| 10 | 11 | Ottawa (Ariz.) | Sooner | 8-2 | 254 |
| 11 | 12 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | Mid-States West | 7-4 | 239 |
| 12 | 10 | Kansas Wesleyan | KCAC | 10-2 | 234 |
| 13 | 13 | Baker (Kan.) | Heart - South | 9-2 | 225 |
| 14 | 17 | Indiana Wesleyan | Mid-States East | 7-3 | 222 |
| 15 | 16 | Georgetown (Ky.) | Mid South | 8-2 | 199 |
| 16 | 15 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | North Star | 8-3 | 178 |
| 17 | 18 | Montana Western | Frontier | 8-4 | 176 |
| 18 | 14 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | Heart - South | 9-3 | 116 |
| 19 | 21 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | Frontier | 7-3 | 98 |
| 20 | 20 | Arizona Christian | Sooner | 8-2 | 83 |
| 21 | 23 | Dordt (Iowa) | Great Plains | 7-3 | 73 |
| 22 | 22 | Culver-Stockton (Mo.) | Heart - North | 8-3 | 68 |
| 23 | 19 | Bethel (Kan.) | Kansas Collegiate | 9-2 | 50 |
| 24 | 24 | Faulkner (Ala.) | Mid South | 8-2 | 46 |
| 25 | RV | St. Francis (Ill.) | Mid-States West | 6-3 | 30 |
Receiving Votes: Carroll (Mont.) 29; Benedictine (Kan.) 23; Valley City State (N.D.) 21; Southeastern (Fla.) 20; College of Idaho 16; Texas Wesleyan 13; St. Thomas (Fla.) 6; Bethel (Tenn.) 3; Concordia (Neb.) 3
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