NAPERVILLE, Ill. – No. 1-ranked Augustana was picked to win the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) men’s basketball title according to the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll announced Wednesday.
The Vikings (27-5, 11-3), ranked first in the latest
D3hoops.com Preseason Top 25, won the conference poll with 48 points including six first place votes. Augustana is coming off CCIW regular season and tournament titles as well as an NCAA championship game appearance last season.
Elmhurst (20-8, 9-5) placed second with 44 points and two first place votes after the Bluejays made CCIW and NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 2009 last season.
Illinois Wesleyan (20-9, 10-4) was third with 35 points as the Titans made their sixth-straight CCIW and NCAA Tournament appearances last season.
North Central (18-8, 8-6) was fourth with 32 points, followed by North Park (15-10, 6-8) with 26 points, Wheaton (11-14, 4-10) with 19 points, Millikin (8-17, 3-11) with 13 points and Carthage (10-15, 5-9) with seven points.
Voting is done by the CCIW'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 do not vote for their own teams.
The CCIW men’s basketball season begins November 13.
Twitter & Instagram: @CCIW_Athletics
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2014-15 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,500 academic all-conference recipients, 19 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 46 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and 102 all-Americans.