The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III.
CCIW schools have accounted for 52 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; seven in football; four in men's indoor track and field; three in women's soccer; two in women's outdoor track and field, women's basketball, men's soccer, men’s golf, and men's volleyball; and one apiece in baseball and women's indoor track and field.
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 their 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.
In 2019 Illinois Wesleyan Men’s Golf won their first national championship. They followed that up with a second national championship in 2021 after a one year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Coached by Jim Ott to both Championships and led by Drew Pershing and Ben Johnson in 2019 and Jimmy Morton, Andrew Abel and Rob Wuethrich in 2021.
North Central Football won the 2019 National Championship and, after the COVID year of 2020 in which no championship was held, finished second in the nation in 2021.
Carthage won consecutive men's volleyball titles in 2021 and 2022.
History
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 26 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 men's and women's wrestling. The most recently added sports are men's volleyball, which started play in the 2020 season (2019–20 school year); bowling, which started play in 2020–21; and women's wrestling, added for the 2022–23 season.
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 academic year. The last member to leave the CCIW was Carroll following the 1991–92 academic year. 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. After 2017, Rose–Hulman left as an associate member shortly before its full-time home of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) announced it would add swimming.
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. With the addition of bowling, Lakeland University, a men's wrestling affiliate since 2016–17, added bowling to its CCIW membership, while Aurora University and Marian University became affiliates in that sport. In 2022–23, Aurora and Lakeland added men's and women's wrestling to their CCIW memberships, and Aurora also joined for men's wrestling.
On September 4, 2024, according to a report from the Division III web outlet D3sports.com that the CCIW would expel Washington University in St. Louis from football membership after the 2025 season, with the report soon confirmed by the conference office.
Chronological timeline 1946 – On April 26, 1946, the CCIW was founded as the College Conference of Illinois (CCI). Charter members included Augustana College of Illinois, Carthage College, Elmhurst College, Illinois College, Illinois Wesleyan College (now Illinois Wesleyan University), Lake Forest University (now Lake Forest College), Millikin College (now Millikin University), North Central College and Wheaton College, beginning the 1946–47 academic year. 1952 – Carthage left the CCI after the 1951–52 academic year. 1953 – Illinois College left the CCI after the 1952–53 academic year. 1955 – Carroll College of Wisconsin (now Carroll University) joined the CCI in the 1955–56 academic year. 1960 – Elmhurst and Wheaton left the CCI after the 1959–60 academic year. 1961 – Carthage rejoined the CCI in the 1961–62 academic year. 1962 – North Park College (now North Park University) joined the CCI in the 1962–63 academic year. 1963 – Lake Forest left the CCI after the 1962–63 academic year. 1967: The CCI was rebranded as the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) in the 1967–68 academic year. Elmhurst and Wheaton rejoined the CCIW in the 1967–68 academic year. Elmhurst later rejoined for football for the 1968 fall season (1968–69 school year) while Wheaton did the same for the 1970 fall season (1970–71 school year). 1992 – Carroll (Wisc.) left the CCIW to join the Midwest Conference (MWC) after the 1991–92 academic year. 2007 – Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology joined the CCIW as an affiliate member for men's and women's swimming in the 2007–08 academic year. 2014 – The University of Dubuque joined the CCIW as an affiliate member for men's and women's lacrosse in the 2015 spring season (2014–15 academic year). 2016: Carroll (Wisc.) rejoined the CCIW in the 2016–17 academic year. Concordia University of Wisconsin, Lakeland University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSoE) joined the CCIW as affiliate members for men's wrestling in the 2016–17 academic year. 2017 – Rose–Hulman left the CCIW as an affiliate member for men's and women's swimming after the 2016–17 academic year. 2018 – Two institutions joined the CCIW as affiliate members, both effective in the 2018–19 academic year: The University of Chicago for women's lacrosse and Washington University in St. Louis for football 2019: Greenville University and Loras College joined the CCIW as affiliate members for men's volleyball in the 2020 spring season (2019–20 academic year). Dubuque left the CCIW as an affiliate member for women's lacrosse after the 2019 spring season (2018–19 academic year); as the school announced that it would drop the sport. 2020: Greenville left the CCIW as an affiliate member for men's volleyball after the 2020 spring season (2019–20 academic year); as the school announced that it would drop the sport. Aurora University and Marian University of Wisconsin joined the CCIW as affiliate members for women's bowling (with Lakeland doing the same) in the 2021 spring season (2020–21 academic year). 2021: Dubuque left the CCIW as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse to join the Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC) after the 2021 spring season (2020–21 academic year). Transylvania University joined the CCIW as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse in the 2022 spring season (2021–22 academic year). 2022 – Aurora added both men's and women's wrestling to its CCIW affiliate membership (with Lakeland doing the same for women's wrestling) in the 2022–23 academic year. 2023 – Transylvania left the CCIW as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse after the 2023 spring season (2022–23 academic year). 2024: Two institutions left the CCIW as affiliate members, both effective after the 2023–24 academic year: Chicago for women's lacrosse and Lakeland for women's bowling, and men's and women's wrestling MSoE added women's wrestling to its CCIW affiliate membership in the 2024–25 academic year. 2026 – Washington (Mo.) was expelled from CCIW football membership after the 2025 fall season (2025–26 academic year). 2027 – Concordia–Wisconsin, already a CCIW associate for men's wrestling, will join as a full CCIW member, effective in the 2027–28 academic year.
Member schools Throughout its history, all CCIW members, whether full or affiliate, have been private schools.
Current members The CCIW currently has nine full members.
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Colors Joined Augustana College Rock Island, Illinois 1860 Lutheran ELCA 2,349 Vikings 1946 Carroll University Waukesha, Wisconsin 1846 Presbyterian 3,283 Pioneers 1955;2016 Carthage College Kenosha, Wisconsin 1847 Lutheran ELCA 2,667 Firebirds 1946;1961 Elmhurst University Elmhurst, Illinois 1871 United Church of Christ 2,748 Bluejays 1946;1967 Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, Illinois 1850 Methodist 1,527 Titans 1946 Millikin University Decatur, Illinois 1901 Presbyterian 1,807 Big Blue 1946 North Central College Naperville, Illinois 1861 United Methodist 2,490 Cardinals 1946 North Park University Chicago, Illinois 1891 Evangelical Covenant 2,660 Vikings 1962 Wheaton College Wheaton, Illinois 1860 Evangelical Protestant 2,885 Thunder 1946;1967
Notes
Future members The CCIW will have one new full member.
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Colors Joining Currentconference Concordia University Wisconsin Mequon, Wisconsin 1880 Lutheran LCMS 2,473 Falcons 2027 Northern (NACC)
Notes
Affiliate members The CCIW currently has five affiliate members.
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Joined CCIWsport(s) Primaryconference Aurora University Aurora, Illinois 1893 Nonsectarian 2,309 Spartans 2020 Northern (NACC) 2022 2022 Concordia University Wisconsin Mequon, Wisconsin 1881 Lutheran LCMS 7,721 Falcons 2016 Northern (NACC) Loras College Dubuque, Iowa 1839 Catholic 1,600 Duhawks 2019 American Rivers (A-R-C) Marian University Fond du Lac, Wisconsin 1936 Catholic 1,497 Sabres 2020 Northern (NACC) Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1903 Nonsectarian 2,823 Raiders 2016 Northern (NACC) 2024
Notes
Former members The CCIW has two former full members.