KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) held its annual Football Media Day press conference on Tuesday, August 5 at the NAIA offices in downtown Kansas City. The event began at 1:00 p.m. The unofficial kickoff to the HAAC football season returned to the NAIA's downtown offices for a second-straight year after holding the event at the renovated offices last year for the first time.

The event provided the opportunity for all 10 football coaches to address local media as well as the fan bases of their respective teams. All media members in attendance were able to conduct one-on-one interviews with each head coach. The press conference was streamed live via a free webcast, providing access for fans of each team to participate in the presentations and receive early insights into the 2014 campaign.

Prior to the start of the press conference, the annual preseason coaches' poll was released, setting the order in which the coaches spoke. Benedictine, who shared the conference championship last season with Missouri Valley and Baker was selected #3 in the 2014 HAAC Coaches Pre-season Poll. Missouri Valley took 77 of the possible 81 points, Baker had 76 and the Ravens followed with 65.

The HAAC goes into the 2014 season with four teams claiming a top 25 ranking in the NAIA Football Coaches' Spring Top 25 Poll. NAIA Football Championship Series quarterfinalist and defending HAAC tri-champion Baker claimed the top spot among the league's teams at #5. Sharing the title with Baker was Missouri Valley, which also landed in the top 10 at #7, while Benedictine was one spot out of the top 10 at #11 after also claiming a share of the 2013 crown. After just missing out on the postseason in 2013, Peru State was the fourth team in the Spring Top 25 at #24.