NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- North Central was selected to win the 2019-20 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) men's basketball title based upon the results of the conference's annual preseason coaches' poll announced Wednesday.
The Cardinals (23-6, 12-4) won the poll with 63 points and seven first place votes following a second place finish in the CCIW standings last season. North Central won its fifth CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament title in February to claim the conference's bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship. It was the program's fourth-straight NCAA appearance.
Augustana (26-4, 15-1) was second in the coaches' poll with 56 points and two first place votes. The Vikings won a record fifth-straight regular season title and 18th title overall last season as the Vikings also made their sixth-straight NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship appearance.
Both the Cardinals and Vikings were recently ranked third and 17th respectively, in the
D3hoops.com Men's Preseason Top 25 announced on October 29
.
Illinois Wesleyan (18-9, 10-6) placed third in the poll with 47 points following the Titans' second-straight CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament appearance last season.
Carthage (8-17, 3-13) was fourth with 42 points, followed by Elmhurst (12-14, 7-9) in fifth with 35 points.
Wheaton (23-9, 11-5) placed sixth with 31 points as the Thunder are coming off an NCAA national semifinal appearance last season.
Carroll (11-15, 7-9) and Millikin (11-13, 5-11) each tied for seventh with 21 points, followed by North Park (4-21, 2-14) in ninth with eight points.
Voting is done by the CCIW's head men's basketball coaches. Each coach votes for the eight other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (eight points for first, seven for second, etc.). Coaches do not vote for their own teams.
2019-20 CCIW Preseason Men's Basketball Poll
| Rank |
Institution |
Points (1st Pl. Votes) |
| 1 |
North Central |
63 (7) |
| 2 |
Augustana |
56 (2) |
| 3 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
47 |
| 4 |
Carthage |
42 |
| 5 |
Elmhurst |
35 |
| 6 |
Wheaton |
31 |
| T-7 |
Carroll |
21 |
| T-7 |
Millikin |
21 |
| 9 |
North Park |
8 |
2018-19 CCIW Men's Basketball Standings
| Institution |
CCIW |
Overall |
| Augustana |
15-1 |
26-4 |
| North Central |
12-4 |
23-6 |
| Wheaton |
11-5 |
23-9 |
| Illinois Wesleyan |
10-6 |
18-9 |
| Carroll |
7-9 |
11-15 |
| Elmhurst |
7-9 |
12-14 |
| Millikin |
5-11 |
11-13 |
| Carthage |
3-13 |
8-17 |
| North Park |
2-14 |
4-21 |
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.