The Iowa Conference released its preseason football coaches poll on Wednesday night and Buena Vista totaled 33 points to finish sixth.  BVU, however, was only four points behind fourth and 10 points back of second.

The Beavers return 15 starters from a team that won four straight games to close out the 2013 season and 27 total letterwinners.  Included in that group are four all-conference performers from a year ago.

"We have a good core of players returning on offense," says ninth year Beaver head coach, Jay Anderson. "Defensively, we will have some guys that played last year step into starting roles. The conference race should be fun to watch this fall."

Wartburg, last year's champion, was picked as the unanimous favorite to repeat.  The Knights earned all seven possible first-place votes (coaches can not vote for their own team) and totaled 56 points.  Coe and Dubuque each tallied 43 points to earn second.  Central, which received the final first-place vote, totaled 37 points to rank fourth.

Buena Vista will open its 2014 campaign at home against UW-Platteville on September 6.  The next home game for the Beavers will also be their IIAC opener on October 4 against Simpson.  The first four league games for BVU are against the four teams it defeated to end last year.

2014 IIAC Preseason Football Coaches Poll