NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Defending NCAA Division III baseball champion Illinois Wesleyan was predicted to win the 2011 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) title in a preseason poll conducted Wednesday.

The Titans (31-21, 12-9) finished fourth in the CCIW last season, but won the conference tournament title to earn the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA regional. From there, Illinois Wesleyan swept through regional play with a 4-0 record, followed by a 4-1 performance at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. Illinois Wesleyan won the title with a 17-5 victory over SUNY-Cortland in the final game of the season.

The Titans won the poll with 47 points including five first place votes, while Carthage (29-18, 13-8), a team that finished third in the CCIW in 2010, was predicted to place second this season with 44 points including three first place votes.

Last season, North Central (31-11, 17-4) won its first CCIW title since 1998. This year, the Cardinals were picked third with 36 points.

Wheaton (24-16, 10-11) was picked for fourth place (27 points), followed by Augustana (25-15, 8-13) in fifth (25 points), North Park (28-15, 15-7) in sixth (24 points), Millikin (11-29, 5-16) in seventh (11 points) and Elmhurst (9-30, 4-17) in eighth (10 points).

Voting for the preseason poll is done by the CCIW's head baseball coaches. Each coach votes for the seven other schools in the conference 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 their own teams.

2011 CCIW Baseball Poll

Rank	Team	Points	First Place Votes
1	Illinois Wesleyan	47	5
2	Carthage	44	3
3	North Central	36
4	Wheaton	27
5	Augustana	25
6	North Park	24
7	Millikin	11
8	Elmhurst	10