NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Wheaton was picked to defend its College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) football title according to a preseason coaches’ poll conducted Thursday.
 
The Thunder (11-1, 7-0) won the poll with 47 points and five first place votes after winning their 17th CCIW title last season and qualifying for the NCAA Division III Football Championship for the first time since 2010.
 
North Central (8-2, 6-1) was second with 45 points and three first place votes after finishing second in the CCIW standings in 2014. The Cardinals won a share or the outright title every year from 2006-2013.
 
Illinois Wesleyan (4-6, 2-5) placed third with 36 points, while Augustana (5-5, 4-3) and Elmhurst (5-5, 4-3) finished tied for fourth with 27 points apiece.
 
North Park (2-8, 2-5), Carthage (3-7, 2-5) and Millikin (3-7, 1-6) rounded out the poll with 18, 14 and 10 points respectively.
 
Voting is done by the CCIW's head football 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 football season begins Saturday, September 5.

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.