NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- North Central was picked to defend its College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) men's basketball title according to a preseason coaches' poll released Thursday.
The Cardinals (22-8, 12-2 last season), coming off two-straight CCIW regular season titles and a conference tournament title last season, won the poll with 49 points including seven first place votes. North Central advanced all the way to the NCAA's sectional round last season.
Illinois Wesleyan (23-8, 10-4), coming off an NCAA Semifinal appearance, was second in the poll with 39 points and one first place vote.
Carthage (12-13, 6-8) placed third in the voting with 36 points, followed by 2012 CCIW Tournament qualifier Augustana (9-7, 9-5) with 31 points.
Wheaton (23-7, 11-3), coming off a CCIW Tournament appearance, placed fifth in the poll with 29 points, while Elmhurst (12-13, 6-8) was sixth with 19 points.
North Park (6-19, 2-12) and Millikin (1-24, 0-14) rounded out the poll with 11 and 10 points respectivley.
Voting is done by the CCIW’s head men's basketball 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.
The 2012 poll was announced in conjunction with the
CCIW Men's Basketball Coaches Chat on Thursday, October 25.
2012-13 CCIW Men's Basketball Poll
|
Rank |
Team |
Points |
First Place
Votes |
|
1 |
North Central |
49 |
7 |
|
2 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
39 |
1 |
|
3 |
Carthage |
36 |
|
|
4 |
Augustana |
31 |
|
|
5 |
Wheaton |
29 |
|
|
6 |
Elmhurst |
19 |
|
|
7 |
North Park |
11 |
|
|
8 |
Millikin |
10 |
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), 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 2011-12 academic year, the CCIW honored 1,323 academic all-conference recipients, 16 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 1 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year, 89 all-Americans and three national championship teams.