2003 Preseason Football Poll

ROCK ISLAND, Illinois – One year ago the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin football race came down to the final Saturday of the season. Back on November 16 the Wheaton Thunder used an impressive second half display of a smothering defense and an efficient offense to dispatch of Augustana by a score of 38-14 at McCully Field in Wheaton, Illinois. That gave the Thunder of head coach Mike Swider the undisputed league title with a perfect 7-0 mark in the CCIW. Augustana fell to second with a 6-1 record under head coach Jim Barnes.

Wheaton beat Alma in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs before having its season ended by Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio by a score of 42-21. The Thunder finished the season with a fine 10-2 overall record.

According to the coaches, the deciding game in the 2003 CCIW football race may once again be that final Saturday (November 15) when Augustana hosts Wheaton in Rock Island, Illinois. The two teams finished in a dead head in the pre-season polling regarding the upcoming season with each picking up 45 points. Wheaton had four first place votes while Augustana garnered three with Millikin picking up the final first place tally.

Millikin and Illinois Wesleyan each picked up 35 points to tie for third place in the voting. One year ago the Big Blue was 4-3 in the league for a third place tie with North Central while the Titans went 3-4 for fifth place. North Central third place tie last year under the direction of first year head coach John Thorne was the best for the Cardinals since the 1997 season when they were also 4-3 and tied for third place. This time around North Central is tabbed for fifth place with 24 points.

Carthage (4-6 overall and 3-4 in the CCIW) picked up 20 points for sixth place, Elmhurst (3-7 & 1-6) had 11 points in seventh and North Park (1-9 & 0-7) garnered nine points in eighth.

2003 Football Poll Results

Voting is done by the football coaches in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin.Each coach votes for the seven other schools in the league 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 his own team.

2002 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN STANDINGS

Conference Points Overall Points

Team W L T For Opp Pct W L T For Opp Pct

Wheaton 0 0 319 #9; 87 1.000 10 2 0 496 196 .833

Augustana Vikings 6 1 0 297 #9; 98 .857 7 2 0 348 132 .778

Millikin 4 3 0 208 153 .571 7 3 0 381 194 .700

North Central 4 3 0 125 202 .571 6 4 0 225 281 .600

Illinois Wesleyan 3 4 0 213 172 .429 6 4 0 313 243 .600

Carthage 3 4 0 181 162 .429 4 6 0 288 247 .400

Elmhurst College 1 6 0 112 305 .143 3 7 0 204 377 .300

North Park 0 7 0 #9; 93 369 .000 1 9 0 136 444 .100