Complete 2014 CCIW Preseason Poll

In one short year, Michael C. Conway and the North Park football coaching staff have changed the attitude of Vikings' football.

In the latest College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin preseason poll released Wednesday the Vikings, who finished with a 3-4 mark in the conference a year ago, are picked to finish their highest (5th) since the CCIW has been releasing the preseason poll.

"To change the culture and the negativity that was around this program was a big job, but I think we've turned that around and we hope it develops into more wins," Conway said. "But you have to take things one step at a time. That's all part of the process."

Up until last season the Vikings hadn't seen much success in the CCIW, carrying a 13-year, 89-game conference losing streak on their back. But after 2013 Coach Conway, the coaching staff and most of all the student-athletes turned that around by setting a few records along the way and earning their best finish in the conference since the 1979 season.

"When we first came here 18 months ago we talked about being competitive first of all, and building a foundation to earn some respect at some point," Conway said. "I don't make predictions or talk about wins and losses because we take each game and approach it for what it is. We play to win every game and I think we did gain at least a small amount of respect, which was definitely important and our players gained that confidence that they needed. But there's still a lot of work to do."

North Park opens the season Saturday night Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. against NCAA Division III playoff-qualifier Concordia University Wiscsonsin.