College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
CCIW
Established	1946
Association	NCAA
Division	Division III
Members	9
Sports fielded	25 men's: 13 women's: 12
Region	Upper Midwest
Former names	College Conference of Illinois
Headquarters	Naperville, Illinois
Commissioner	Maureen Harty (since 2019)
Website	cciw.org
Locations

The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) is a college athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III.

CCIW schools have accounted for 47 national championships in NCAA Division III competition, including 15 in men's cross country, six in men's basketball, six in men's outdoor track and field, five in football, four men's indoor track and field, three in women's soccer, two in women's outdoor track and field, women's basketball and men's soccer and one apiece in baseball, women's indoor track and field, and men's volleyball.

Elmhurst College won a pair of Division III women's 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.

North Central men's cross country won its 13th national title in program history during the fall of 2009, while the North Central men's indoor track and field team captured the 2010 national championship. The Cardinals made it clean sweep by winning the men's outdoor track and field title in the spring of 2010. In addition, the Illinois Wesleyan women's outdoor track and field team, as well as the baseball team, took home national titles, giving the CCIW five national championships during the 2009–10 season.

North Central defended its titles in men's indoor track and field and outdoor track and field in the spring of 2011 while the Cardinals won their second men's cross country title in three seasons in the fall of 2011 and their third-straight indoor track and field title in 2012. Illinois Wesleyan won the conference's second women's basketball national title in 2012.^[1]

History[]

College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Interactive fullscreen map]

Location of CCIW members: full

The conference was formed with nine charter members (Augustana College, Carthage College, Elmhurst College, Illinois College, Illinois Wesleyan University, Lake Forest College, Millikin University, North Central College and Wheaton College) on April 26, 1946, in Jacksonville, Illinois, 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, Wisconsin in 1962, and Carroll University, which entered the conference in 1955.

The CCIW sponsors 25 sports: baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's bowling, men's and women's cross country, football, men's and women's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, 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 and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field, men's and women's volleyball and wrestling. The most recently added sports are men's volleyball, which started play in the 2020 season (2019–20 school year),^[2] and bowling, which started play in 2020–21.^[3]

CCIW membership has experienced several changes since its inception. After Carthage left in 1952, Illinois College withdrew the following year (1953). Elmhurst and Wheaton withdrew following the 1959–60 academic year. Wheaton re-joined for all sports but football in 1967 (and for football in 1970). Elmhurst re-joined in the fall of 1967 for all sports but football (and for football in 1968). Carroll joined during the 1955 spring sports season (1954-55 academic season). Carthage returned in the fall of 1961, and North Park University entered the following fall (1962). 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. Carroll returned to the CCIW in 2016. In 2007, Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology, located in Terre Haute, Indiana, joined the CCIW as an associate member for men's and women's swimming.^[4] After 2017, Rose–Hulman left as an associate member shortly before its full-time home of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference announced it would add swimming.^[5]

The CCIW lost one affiliate member and gained two in 2020. Greenville University, which had moved its men's volleyball program from the single-sport Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League to the CCIW in 2019–20, downgraded the sport from varsity to club status after that school year.^[6] With the addition of bowling, Lakeland University, a wrestling affiliate since 2016–17, added bowling to its CCIW membership, while Aurora University and Marian University became affiliates in that sport.^[3]

Member schools[]

Current members[]

The league currently has nine full members.

Notes

1. - Carthage left the CCIW in 1951–52 season; but rejoined in the 1961–62 season.
2. - Carroll left the CCIW in 1992–93 season; but rejoined in the 2016–17 season.
3. - Elmhurst left the CCIW after the 1959–60 season; but rejoined in the 1967–68 season (football later re-joined in the 1968–69 season).
4. - Wheaton left the CCIW after the 1959–60 season; but rejoined in the 1967–68 season (football later re-joined in the 1970–71 season).

Affiliate members[]

The "Joined" column indicates the calendar year of entry, which for spring sports will differ from the first season of competition.

Former members[]

Former affiliate members[]

Membership timeline[]

Sports[]

In 2015, men's and women's lacrosse were added as sanctioned sports by the CCIW. The CCIW announced the inclusion of men's volleyball for the 2020 season (2019–20 school year), with bowling (an NCAA sport for women only) added in 2020–21.

The CCIW sponsors championships in the following sports:

Conference sports

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Bowling		Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Lacrosse	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Swimming	Y	Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track and field (indoor)	Y	Y
Track and field (outdoor)	Y	Y
Volleyball	Y	Y
Wrestling	Y

National championships[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website