College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin History
Entering its 63rd season in 2008-09, the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) enjoys a reputation as the “Best Small-College Conference in the Nation.” In NCAA Division III competition, CCIW schools have accounted for 35 national championships, including 12 in men’s cross country, six in men’s basketball, four each in football and men’s outdoor track and field, two apiece in men’s soccer, women’s basketball and volleyball, three in women's soccer, one in women's outdoor track & field, one in men’s indoor track and field and one in women's indoor track and field. Elmhurst College won a pair of NCAA Division III Volleyball Championships (1983 and 1985), and North Central College won a women’s basketball title (1983) before the conference began sponsorship of women’s athletics in 1986-87. During the 2004-05 academic year, the Wheaton women’s soccer team and the Millikin women’s basketball team added two more titles as both won their respective national championship. Wheaton women's soccer won two more national titles in the 2006 and 2007 seasons while Illinois Wesleyan picked up the title in both women's indoor track and field and women's outdoor track and field in the spring of 2008.

The conference was formed with nine charter members (Augustana, Carthage, Elmhurst, Illinois College, Illinois Wesleyan, Lake Forest, Millikin, North Central and Wheaton) on April 26, 1946, in Jacksonville, Ill., and opened competition in the 1946-47 academic year as the College Conference of Illinois. In 1967, the name was changed to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, to recognize Carthage, which moved to Kenosha, Wis., in 1962 and Carroll, which entered the conference in 1955. Carthage left the conference in 1952, but returned in 1961.

The CCIW sponsors 21 sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s indoor track & field, men’s and women’s outdoor track & field, volleyball and wrestling.

As is often the case with athletic conferences, CCIW membership has experienced several changes since its inception. After Carthage left in 1952, Illinois College withdrew the following year. Elmhurst and Wheaton withdrew following the 1959-60 academic year. Wheaton rejoined for all sports but football in 1967 and for football in 1970. Elmhurst rejoined in the fall of 1967 for all sports but football and for football in the 1968 season. Carroll joined officially with the 1955 spring sports seasons. Carthage returned in the fall of 1961, and North Park entered the following fall. Lake Forest dropped out at the end of the 1962-63 season. The last member to leave the CCIW was Carroll following the 1991-92 season. In 2007, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, located in Terre Haute, Ind., joined the CCIW as an associate member for men's and women's swimming.

Now eight members and one associate member strong, the CCIW continues its tradition of athletic and academic excellence.

Note: Between November of 2006 and October of 2007, CCIW.org had over five million hits and nearly 400,000 visits.