2018-19 D3hoops.com Men's Preseason Top 25 | Augustana Release | IWU Release

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Augustana and Illinois Wesleyan were both ranked in the D3hoops.com Men's Preseason Top 25 heading into the upcoming 2018-19 season.

The Vikings (25-6, 12-4) were third in the preseason top 25 with 539 points following a fourth-straight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) title, which was the program's 17th in school history and ninth under head coach Grey Giovanine. Augustana also won its sixth CCIW Tournament title in program history and advanced to last year's NCAA regional final for the fourth-straight season. 

The Titans (19-8, 12-4) were ranked 19th with 142 points after winning their conference-leading 30th CCIW title in program history last season. It was the Titans' first title since 2014 and third under head coach Ron Rose. Additionally, Illinois Wesleyan participated in the NCAA postseason for the fourth time in the last six years.

North Central (19-9, 11-5) placed in the "Others receiving votes" category with 19 points after the Cardinals finished third in the CCIW standings last season. 
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), 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 2017-18 academic year, the CCIW honored over 2,100 academic all-conference recipients, 15 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 28 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, and over 100 all-Americans.