NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Augustana, a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) co-champion a year ago, was picked to defend its title this season according to a preseason poll conducted by the CCIW's head men's basketball coaches Thursday.

The poll was announced in conjunction with the CCIW’s third annual Men's Basketball Coaches Chat, which took place via the CCIW website.

Augustana (27-4, 11-3) won the poll with 47 points including five first place votes, while North Central (15-11, 11-3) placed second with 42 points including two first place votes. Both the Vikings and Cardinals shared the CCIW title last season with Augustana advancing all the way to the sectional round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.

Wheaton (18-8, 9-5) placed third with 39 points including one first place vote. Illinois Wesleyan (20-9, 9-5), an NCAA postseason team last season, was fourth in the poll with 28 points.

Carthage (16-9, 9-5) was fifth with 27 points, followed by North Park (11-14, 4-10) with 18 points, Elmhurst (8-17, 3-11) with 16 points and Millikin (1-23, 0-14) with seven points.

Voting is done by the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin's head men's basketball coaches. Each coach votes for the seven other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (seven points for first, six for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.

2011 CCIW Men's Basketball Poll 

Rank	Team	Points	First Place Votes
1	Augustana	47	5
2	North Central	42	2
3	Wheaton	39	1
4	Illinois Wesleyan	28
5	Carthage	27
6	North Park	18
7	Elmhurst	16
8	Millikin	7