WLC now #18 in the 1st regular season poll after their hot 4-0 start.

Longtime WLC Women's Basketball Coach Wayne Smith passed away yesterday.

https://x.com/WLCSports/status/1993057276329152700?s=20

Wartburg gets a first round bye in the playoffs while Coe gets in as at-large and travels to NACC Champ Concordia Wisconsin (9-1) in the first round. Winner plays Bethel in the second round.

Concordia Wisconsin hosts Coe (8-2) who finished runner up to Wartburg in the American Rivers Conference in the first round. Winner advances to face Bethel.

Pretty impressive first three games for the Warriors as they beat Trine, Gustavus and Wartburg (all three receiving votes) to start out 3-0.

Preseason Poll dropped today: https://naccsports.org/news/2025/10/25/cuw-edges-msoe-for-top-spot-in-2025-2026-nacc-mens-basketball-preseason-poll.aspx

CUW is atop the poll but the margin between 1st and 3rd was 10 points. WLC isn't far behind in 4th.

Alverno will not have a team for Women's Basketball this year and are leaving the NACC after this season for the Coast 2 Coast.

https://athletics.alverno.edu/news/2025/10/3/general-c2c-welcomes-alverno-college-as-newest-member.aspx

So that makes both of the all-female colleges in the MKE area making conference/association changes within the last few years (Mt. Mary went NAIA).

They have struggled in most if not all sports in the NACC for a while now. That and constant turnover in the coaching staffs hasn't helped.

I also figure the NACC might have nudged them out the door with what has happened this year. Though it begs the question what financial shape is Alverno in if the Athletics are in shambles at the moment.

NACC Non-Conf Slates

Aurora

11/7 vs Gustavus Adolphus
11/8 vs Bethany Lutheran
11/12 at North Central (IL)
11/19 at UW-Whitewater
11/25 at Ashbury
12/20 vs Albion
12/30 at Monmouth (IL)


Benedictine

11/7 vs Simpson (at Illinois College)
11/8 Either Illinois College or Principia
11/13 at Northern Illinois (Exhibition)
11/18 at Wheaton (IL)
11/25 vs North Central
12/3 at UW-Oshkosh
12/20 vs Dubuque
12/30 at Carthage

Concordia Chicago

11/8 vs Greenville
11/12 at Millikin
11/21 at Pacific (OR)
11/22 vs George Fox (at Pacific)
11/29 at Alma
12/14 vs Adrian
12/30 at North Park

Concordia Wisconsin

11/8 vs Wheaton (IL)
11/14 at Wartburg
11/15 Either UW-Eau Claire or Cornell (IA)
11/21 at Webster
11/22 vs Westminster (MO)
11/26 at Northern Michigan (Exhibition)
12/19 vs UW-La Crosse (at Just A Game Fieldhouse)
12/20 Either Calvin or Augustana (IL)

Dominican

11/7 vs Eureka
11/9 at Purdue-Fort Wayne (Exhibition)
11/15 at Kalamazoo
11/21 at Simpson
11/22 TBA
11/25 at UW-Milwaukee (Exhibition)
11/29 at Wartburg
12/13 vs Adrian
12/20 vs Lawrence

Edgewood

11/5 at Viterbo (Exhibition)
11/12 at Dubuque
11/15 at UW-Stevens Point
11/22 vs Chicago
11/25 vs UW-Oshkosh
11/29 at UW-Parkside
12/21 vs Carthage College (at Just a Game Fieldhouse)
12/30 at Carroll

Illinois Tech

11/6 at Indiana State (Exhibition)
11/12 vs Trine
11/15 vs Rose-Hulman
11/19 vs Lake Forest
12/13 vs Kalamazoo
12/15 vs Albion
12/20 vs Catholic (at San Juan PR)
12/21 vs Johns Hopkins (at San Juan PR)
12/29 at Illinois-Chicago (Exhibition)

Lakeland

11/7 vs Lawrence
11/14 vs Martin Luther
11/15 vs Northwestern (MN)
11/18 at Ripon
11/29 at Michigan Tech (Exhibition)
12/16 at Beloit
12/19 at Buena Vista
12/29 at UW-Stevens Point

Marian

11/8 at UW-Superior
11/9 Either Central (IA) or UW-River Falls (at Superior)
11/18 vs Augsburg (at Just A Game Fieldhouse)
11/29 vs St. Mary's (MN)
12/14 at Northern Michigan (Exhibition)
12/18 vs Beloit
12/20 at Carroll
1/27 at Maranatha Baptist

MSOE

11/8 vs UW-Stevens Point
11/15 vs Lake Forest
11/19 at Elmhurst
11/25 vs Carroll
11/29 vs Coe
12/29 vs Redlands (at Las Vegas NV)
12/30 vs Occidental (at Las Vegas NV)

Rockford

10/29 at William Penn (IA)
11/7 vs Bethany Lutheran (at Aurora)
11/8 vs Gustavus Adolphus (at Aurora)
11/15 vs Monmouth (IL)
11/20 at Illinois State (Exhibition)
11/29 at Eureka
12/16 at Maranatha Baptist
1/10 vs Maranatha Baptist

St. Norbert

10/30 at UW-Green Bay (Exhibition)
11/7 at UW-Eau Claire
11/12 vs Ripon
11/19 vs Lawrence
12/6 at UW-Superior
12/20 at UW-Oshkosh
12/29 vs St. Olaf
12/30 Either UW-La Crosse or North Central (MN)

Wisconsin Lutheran

11/8 vs Lawrence
11/11 at Augustana (IL)
11/15 at Elmhurst
11/21 vs Illinois Wesleyan
11/22 Either Kenyon or Albion
11/25 vs UW-Superior
12/31 vs Wheaton (IL)

Concordia Chicago 49
Eureka 20

Benedictine 42
Rockford 9

Aurora 48
Lakeland 28

Concordia Wisconsin 24
St. Norbert 17

NACC Standings

Concordia Wisconsin 4-1 (3-0)
Benedictine 4-1 (2-1)
Aurora 3-2 (2-1)
Wisconsin Lutheran 1-3 (1-1)
Lakeland 1-3 (1-1)
St. Norbert 1-3 (1-1)
Concordia Chicago 3-2 (1-2)
Eureka 2-3 (1-2)
Rockford 1-4 (0-3)

Right now CUW stands alone atop the league as we near the halfway mark but that could very well change in the next few weeks.

Quote from: CarollFan on September 20, 2025, 09:29:19 PMAll the talk about Aurora joining the CCIW jinxed them.
Benedictine beat them today to break their 46 game win streak in the NACC.

*Does a spit take as the resident NACC poster*

Quote from: Gregulator316 on September 15, 2025, 07:12:47 AMSo Does the NACC try to replace CUW, or just go with 8 teams and add a 3rd nonconference game? Are there any realistic candidates to join the league? Greenville?

Full time or Football only? If they take Greenville that basically blows up the UMAC as a football league because the Panthers are a football affiliate. They are decent program elsewhere so it has upside for the NACC but they are a geographic outlier being near St. Louis.

Moving Eureka to full time could be a thing but still that would leave a 3 team non-con slate but they are still a outlier in geography. Not sure where their athletics success would fit in the NACC hierarchy.

Maybe trying to woo one of the Midwest teams to join could be a solution too.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 20, 2025, 01:47:57 PM

Quote from: Captain_Joe08 on September 20, 2025, 01:20:01 PMSees CUW news

Honestly I felt Aurora or Benedictine would've been a better fit for the CCIW. CUW is a solid athletic program but I have to question how well they can do in this league.

I'm not sure if Aurora is interested in joining the CCIW, or if the CCIW is interested in having Aurora join, but Benedictine ain't getting into this league, no way, no how. It will never happen. You can take that to the bank. North Central refuses to let its neighbor down the street join the circuit, and the rest of the league doesn't want a Chicagoland-based Catholic school in the league, given how most CCIW schools are heavily dependent upon Chicagoland for recruiting in most of their sports. The enormous Catholic population (and, perhaps even more importantly, the large number of area Catholic high schools that play competitively within the IHSA ranks) in Chicagoland would give BU a huge leg up on everybody else in terms of drawing student-athletes if it was a CCIW school.

True. Still can't see where CUW isn't much more than a mid-pack team in football. They are a solid team in the NACC but right now it's 3rd at best behind St. Norbert and Aurora.

Though one of the two trophy games (Lutheran Bowl and the Cheese Bowl) are going to be on hiatus going forward with the lone non-con.

Sees CUW news

Honestly I felt Aurora or Benedictine would've been a better fit for the CCIW. CUW is a solid athletic program but I have to question how well they can do in this league.