NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin's (CCIW) head football coaches picked North Central to defend its conference title according to a preseason poll conducted Thursday.
The poll was announced in conjunction with the CCIW's second annual Football Coaches Chat, which took place via the CCIW website.
North Central (8-2, 6-1 in 2009) won the poll with 48 points including six first place votes. The Cardinals shared the CCIW title with Illinois Wesleyan last season, their fourth-straight since 2006.
North Central enters the 2010 season ranked 14th in the nation according to the D3Football.com Preseason Top 25 (Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton were placed in the "Others Receiving Votes" category with 91 and 80 votes, respectively).
Wheaton (7-3, 4-3) was second with 41 points including one first place vote. Augustana (6-4, 4-3) and Illinois Wesleyan (10-2, 6-1) tied for third with 33 points apiece including a first place vote for Augustana. Illinois Wesleyan advanced to the second round of the 2009 NCAA Division III Football Championship after winning a share of the CCIW title for the second time in the last three seasons.
Carthage (7-3, 4-3) placed fifth with 28 points, Millikin (6-4, 3-4) was sixth with 21 points, Elmhurst (4-6, 1-6) was seventh with 13 points and North Park (1-9, 0-7) was eighth with seven points.
Voting in the preseason poll 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 may not vote for their own team.
2010 CCIW Preseason Football Poll
|
Team
|
Points
|
First
Place Votes
|
|
North Central
|
48
|
6
|
|
Wheaton
|
41
|
1
|
|
Augustana
|
33
|
1
|
|
Illinois Wesleyan
|
33
|
|
|
Carthage
|
28
|
|
|
Millikin
|
21
|
|
|
Elmhurst
|
13
|
|
|
North Park
|
7
|