The Heart of America (HOA) is a Division I-AA men's college rugby conference that expanded to 12 teams for the 2025-2026 season. It operates under the College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) and is made up of schools from the middle part of the USA—Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri.
The conference plays its 15s season in the fall but enters its champion in the CRAA D1AA postseason in the spring.
Forty-six players have been named to the Heart of America All-Conference selections.
With the conference having expended, it was decided to make selections based on the two divisions, North and South. Each division had 23 players selected based on position. The entire Heart of America Conference has over 325 registered players competing.
Minnesota and Kansas play for the Heart of America championship Sunday in Lawrence, Kans., with the Kansas game carrying with it more than its share of drama.
The Golden Gophers of Minnesota defeated Arkansas 37-19, putting together perhaps their best performance of the season.
Minnesota is atop the Heart of American North after beating Iowa 41-7.
The Gophers ave not lost and are in a good position to make something happen in the playoffs.
"Iowa was a tough and physical team," said Golden Gophers Head Coach Sean Lindersmith. "Our team was challenged the entire way.
"We started executing well after making some adjustments."
One of the weirder endings to a game came last week when Minnesota beat Iowa State 36-35.
In a clash of big offense vs big defense, it was the defense that prevailed as Kansas defeated Arkansas in Week 2 of Heart of America conference play.
Arkansas had put up 72 the week before, but against a tough Jayhawks defense they managed only 10, and that wasn’t enough.
A tough, physical game saw Arkansas bring out the defense too, but the one Jawhawks try was enough.
