NAPERVILLE – For the second consecutive season and the fourth time since 2018, North Central is the coaches’ choice to win the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) football race in 2023. 

2023 Preseason CCIW Football Coaches' Poll

1. North Central (9)	81
2. Wheaton (1)	71
3. WashU	67
T4. Augustana	49
T4. Illinois Wesleyan	49
6. Carroll	48
7. Carthage	30
8. Millikin	25
T9. Elmhurst	15
T9. North Park	15

The defending national champion and preseason national #1 Cardinals received nine first-place votes for the maximum 81 points in the poll conducted by league head coaches earlier this month. NCC has swept the league schedule in each of the last two seasons and enters the 2023 campaign riding a 24-game CCIW win streak.
 
The second slot in the poll went to Wheaton. The Thunder – less than a year removed from earning their third consecutive NCAA postseason berth last November – secured one first-place vote in Monday’s poll. Wheaton received 71 total points.
 
WashU was third with 67 points. The Bears will enter their fifth season as an associate football member of the league in 2023. WashU went 8-3 last season and made its second consecutive appearance as the CCIW’s representative in the Culver’s Isthmus Bowl in Sun Prairie Wis.
 
Augustana and Illinois Wesleyan were locked into a fourth-place tie in the coaches’ poll with 49 total points. The Titans tied for fourth place last season, one game ahead of the Vikings.
 
Carroll, which placed in the top half of the final 2022 standings, was picked sixth in the 2023 vote with 48 points. The Pioneers’ in-state rival Carthage slotted seventh with 30 points.
 
Millikin (25 points) checked in in the eight spot on Monday, trailed by a ninth-place tie between Elmhurst and North Park with 15 points each.
 
The 2023 season begins Saturday, Sept. 2 with seven non-conference bouts, followed by three more non-league games on Sept. 9. The 78th season of CCIW football is officially slated to kick off with five games on Saturday, Sept. 16.