The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Division III. CCIW schools have accounted for 50 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 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

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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 Carthage College is a private college in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1847, it is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Carthage awards bachelor's degrees with majors in more than 40 subject areas and maste ...

Elmhurst College Elmhurst University is a private university in Elmhurst, Illinois, United States. It has a tradition of service-oriented learning and an affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The university changed its name from Elmhurst College on July ...

Illinois College Illinois College is a private liberal arts college in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was the second college founded in Illinois but the first to grant a degree (in ...

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducatio ...

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Millikin was initially esta ...

North Central College North Central College is a private college in Naperville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and has 73 undergraduate majors of study, 17 minors, 25 graduate programs, and 4 certificate programs offered by four undergradu ...

and Wheaton College) on April 26, 1946, in

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Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, 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 Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Wisconsin, fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. S ...

in 1962, and

Carroll University Carroll University is a private university in Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States. It was established in 1846 as Wisconsin's first four-year institution of higher learning. The university is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History ...

, 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 North Park University is a private Christian university in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church. It is located on Chicago's north side in the North Park community area and enrolls more than 2,600 undergr ...

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 Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716. Located along the Wabash River about e ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, 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 The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Founded as the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Con ...

(HCAC) announced it would add swimming. The CCIW lost one affiliate member and gained two in 2020.

Greenville University Greenville University is a private university in Greenville, Illinois, United States. It is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church. Established as Greenville College in 1892, the institution was renamed Greenville University in 2017. History ...

, which had moved its men's volleyball program from the single-sport

Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League The Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) is an intercollegiate men's volleyball conference associated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division III, Division III. History The MCVL was founded in March 2014 by a ...

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 Lakeland University is a private university affiliated with the United Church of Christ, with its main campus in Herman, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, Herman, Wisconsin, United States, and seven evening, weekend, and online centers located through ...

, a men's wrestling affiliate since 2016–17, added bowling to its CCIW membership, while

Aurora University Aurora University (AU) is a private university in Aurora, Illinois, United States. Established in 1893 as a seminary of the Advent Christian Church, the university has been independent since 1971. Approximately 6,200 students are enrolled in t ...

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.

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,

, Illinois Wesleyan College (now Illinois Wesleyan University),

Lake Forest University Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts inst ...

(now Lake Forest College),

Millikin College Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Millikin was initially esta ...

(now Millikin University),

and Wheaton College, effective beginning the 1946-47 academic year. * 1952 - Carthage left the CCI, effective after the 1951-52 academic year. * 1963 - Illinois College left the CCI, effective after the 1952-53 academic year. * 1955 - Carroll College of Wisconsin (now Carroll University) joined the CCI, effective in the 1955-56 academic year. * 1960 - Elmhurst and Wheaton left the CCI, effective after the 1959-60 academic year. * 1961 - Carthage re-joined back to the CCI, effective in the 1961-62 academic year. * 1962 -

North Park College North Park University is a private Christian university in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church. It is located on Chicago's north side in the North Park community area and enrolls more than 2,600 undergr ...

(now North Park University) joined the CCI, effective in the 1962-63 academic year. * 1963 - Lake Forest left the CCI, effective after the 1962-63 academic year. * 1967 - The CCI has been rebranded as the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), effective in the 1967-68 academic year. * 1967 - Elmhurst and Wheaton re-joined back to the CCIW, effective in the 1967-68 academic year. Elmhurst later re-joined back for football for the 1968 fall season while Wheaton did the same for the 1970 fall season. * 1992 - Carroll (Wisc.) left the CCIW to join the

Midwest Conference The Midwest Conference (MWC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. Member institutions are located in the Midwestern United States in the states of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The Midwest Confe ...

(MWC), effective after the 1991-92 academic year. * 2016 - Carroll (Wisc.) re-joined back to the CCIW, effective in the 2016-17 academic year. * 2007 - Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology joined the CCIW as an affiliate member for swimming, effective in the 2007-08 academic year. * 2014 - The

University of Dubuque The University of Dubuque (UD) is a private Presbyterian university in Dubuque, Iowa. About 2,200 students attend the university. History The University of Dubuque has had a long history in Dubuque since its founding in 1852. Early years Adri ...

joined the CCIW as an affiliate member for men's and women's lacrosse, effective in the 2015 spring season (2014-15 academic year). * 2016 - Concordia University of Wisconsin,

and the

Milwaukee School of Engineering The Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is a private university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, the university has a primary focus on undergraduate engineering education with additional programs in business, mathem ...

joined the CCIW as affiliate members for wrestling, effective in the 2016-17 academic year. * 2017 - Rose–Hulman left the CCIW as an affiliate member for swimming, effective after the 2016-17 academic year. * 2018 - Two institutions joined the CCIW as affiliate members: The

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

for women's lacrosse, and

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

for football, both effective in the 2018-19 academic year. * 2019 **

and

Loras College Loras College is a private Catholic college in Dubuque, Iowa, United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students and is the oldest post-secondary institution in the state of Iowa. Loras offers both undergraduate and graduat ...

joined the CCIW as affiliate members for men's volleyball, effective in the 2020 spring season (2019-20 academic year). ** Dubuque left the CCIW as an affiliate member for women's lacrosse as the school announced that it would drop the sport, effective after the 2019 spring season (2018-19 academic year). * 2020 ** Greenville left the CCIW as an affiliate member for men's volleyball as the school announced that it would drop the sport, effective after the 2020 spring season (2019-20 academic year). **

and Marian University of Wisconsin joined the CCIW as affiliate members for bowling, effective 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 The Midwest Lacrosse Conference (MLC) is a men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III lacrosse-only college athletic conference composed of schools located in the Midwestern United States. All schools are members of conf ...

(MLC), effective after the 2021 spring season (2020-21 academic year). **

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1780 and is the oldest university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is Higher educ ...

joined the CCIW as an affiliate member for men's lacrosse, effective in the 2022 spring season (2021-22 academic year). * 2022 – Aurora added both men's and women's wrestling to its CCIW membership effective with the 2022–23 school year. Lakeland did the same for women's wrestling. * 2024 – The Division III web outlet ''D3sports.com'' reported that the CCIW would expel Washington from football membership after the 2025 season, with the report soon confirmed by the conference office.

Member schools

Throughout its history, all CCIW members, whether full or affiliate, have been

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

schools.

Current members

;Notes:

Affiliate members

The CCIW currently has nine affiliate members.

Former members

The CCIW has two former full members.

Former affiliate members

The CCIW has two former affiliate members. ;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1946 till:2031 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:1946 till:end text: Augustana (Ill.) (1946–present) bar:2 color:Full from:1946 till:1952 text:

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

(1946–1952) bar:2 color:Full from:1961 till:end text:(1961–present) bar:3 color:Full from:1946 till:1960 text: Elmhurst (1946–1960) bar:3 color:FullxF from:1967 till:1968 text:(1967–present) bar:3 color:Full from:1968 till:end bar:4 color:Full from:1946 till:1953 text:

(1946–1953) bar:5 color:Full from:1946 till:end text: Illinois Wesleyan (1946–present) bar:6 color:Full from:1946 till:1963 text: Lake Forest (1946–1963) bar:7 color:Full from:1946 till:end text: Millikin (1946–present) bar:8 color:Full from:1946 till:end text: North Central (Ill.) (1946–present) bar:9 color:Full from:1946 till:1960 text: Wheaton (Ill.) (1946–1960) bar:9 color:FullxF from:1967 till:1970 text:(1967–present) bar:9 color:Full from:1970 till:end bar:10 color:Full from:1955 till:1992 text: Carroll (Wisc.) (1955–1992) bar:10 color:Full from:2016 till:end text:(2016–present) bar:11 color:Full from:1962 till:end text: North Park (1962–present) bar:12 color:AssocOS from:2007 till:2017 text: Rose–Hulman (RHIT) (2007–2017) bar:13 color:AssocOS from:2014 till:2021 text:

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

(2014–2021) bar:14 shift:(-5) color:AssocOS from:2016 till:end text: Concordia (Wisc.) (2016–present) bar:15 color:AssocOS from:2016 till:end text: Lakeland (2016–present) bar:16 color:AssocOS from:2016 till:end text: MSOE (2016–present) bar:17 color:AssocOS from:2018 till:end text:

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

(2018–present) bar:18 shift:(-20) color:AssocF from:2018 till:2026 text: Washington (Mo.) (2018–2026) bar:19 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:2020 text: Greenville (2019–2020) bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text: Loras (2019–present) bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

(2020–present) bar:22 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text: Marian (2020–present) bar:23 color:AssocOS from:2021 till:end text:

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

(2021–present) bar:N color:powderblue from:1946 till:1967 text:College Conference of Illinois (CCI) bar:N color:blue from:1967 till:end text:College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1950

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. Women's wrestling became the newest conference sport in 2022–23. The CCIW sponsors championships in the following sports:

Men's sponsored sports by school

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the CCIW that are played by CCIW schools

Women's sponsored sports by school

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the CCIW that are played by CCIW schools

National championships

References

External links

* {{NCAA Division III football conference navbox College sports in Illinois College sports in Wisconsin