NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- North Central was predicted to win its fourth-straight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) football title following the announcement of the conference's annual preseason coaches' poll on Thursday.
The Cardinals won the poll with 79 points and seven first place votes after winning a share of their third-straight CCIW title last season, which earned the program the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA postseason. It was North Central's 11th NCAA appearance since 2005. The Cardinals have won three titles under head coach Jeff Thorne following eight titles won by his father John.
Wheaton placed second in the poll with 72 points and two first place votes following a third place tie in 2018. The Thunder are an eight-time conference champion under head coach Mike Swider including back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015.
Illinois Wesleyan was third with 68 points and one first place vote following back-to-back co-conference titles in 2017 and 2018. The Titans have won nine titles under head coach Norm Eash, who begins his 33rd season in 2019 and is the longest tenured active CCIW coach.
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) was fourth with 57 points as the Bears enter their second season as an associate member for football. WashU finished tied for third last season as head coach Larry Kindbom earned CCIW Coach of the Year honors.
Carthage (44 points), Millikin (39 points) and Augustana (38 points) filled in the fifth, sixth and seventh spots, respectively, while Elmhurst (23 points), Carroll (16 points) and North Park (14 points) rounded out the poll.
Both Elmhurst and North Park welcome in new coaches in 2019 including the Bluejays'
Jeff McDonald and the Vikings'
Kyle Rooker.
Voting is done by the CCIW's head football coaches. Each coach votes for the nine other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (nine points for first, eight for second, etc.). Coaches do not vote for their own teams.
The 2019 CCIW football season begins Friday, September 6 and the complete conference schedule can be found
here. The conference champion will earn the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Football Championship.
| 2019 Preseason Football Coaches' Poll |
| Rank |
Institution |
Points (1st Pl. Votes) |
| 1 |
North Central |
79 (7) |
| 2 |
Wheaton |
72 (2) |
| 3 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
68 (1) |
| 4 |
WashU |
57 |
| 5 |
Carthage |
44 |
| 6 |
Millikin |
39 |
| 7 |
Augustana |
38 |
| 8 |
Elmhurst |
23 |
| 9 |
Carroll |
16 |
| 10 |
North Park |
14 |
| 2018 CCIW Football Standings |
| Institution |
CCIW |
Overall |
| North Central |
8-1 |
10-2 |
| Illinois Wesleyan |
8-1 |
8-2 |
| WashU |
7-2 |
8-2 |
| Wheaton |
7-2 |
8-2 |
| Millikin |
5-4 |
6-4 |
| Carthage |
4-5 |
4-6 |
| Augustana |
3-6 |
4-6 |
| Carroll |
2-7 |
3-7 |
| North Park |
1-8 |
2-8 |
| Elmhurst |
0-9 |
1-9 |
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 2018-19 academic year, the CCIW honored over 2,200 academic all-conference recipients, 18 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 43 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, and over 100 all-Americans.