FOOTBALL: Baker to Begin 2018 Ranked Number 9

Baker University Sports Press Release

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BALDWIN CITY – For the third-straight season, the Baker University football team enters the season ranked in the Top Ten, as the Wildcats will begin 2018 ranked number nine, as the NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll was announced on Monday.

The Wildcats began 2016 ranked number five and 2017 ranked number two in the NAIA Coaches' Preseason Polls.

The 16-time Heart of America Athletic Conference Football champions will begin its 2018 season on Saturday, September 1 at 2:30 p.m. against (RV) William Penn in Oskaloosa, Iowa in a game that will be broadcast worldwide by Niles Media on the ESPN App and locally on KSMO-TV.

Also ranked in the Top 25 this week from the Heart includes, number 10 Grand View and number 12 Benedictine. While Evangel, William Penn and Missouri Valley are all receiving votes.

Baker is coming off of its third-straight Heart of America Athletic Conference Southern Division Championship and fourth title in the past five seasons.

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."