FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Pat Coleman]

CCIW announcement on CUW

CUW announcement

Does this mean the CCIW will do away with the 1 non-conference game every year or will there be a rotating schedule every year where you don't play one team? I would prefer the non-conference game to be removed so that Rivalries are protected.

Starting next year, nobody will play Wash U., unless they choose to do so in non-conference. (AKA this is WashU's last year in the CCIW for football.)

[Gregory Sager]

Women's triathlon is indeed a (non-NCAA) college sport, though just 41 schools across all divisions sponsor it currently. In addition to CUW, both Millikin and NCC have varsity programs, and NCC's team has finished 1st or 2nd among D3 schools since 2017. 

Thanks, I am in favor of more sports if the economics supports it so I love that triathlon is a thing.

I'm disappointed that CUW doesn't have cross-country skiing, chess, or rodeo teams.

Are there any alpine or nordic skiing programs in Wisconsin?  It seems to me that there are enough high school programs to support more college programs.

Just one, UW-Green Bay. But there's a league, the Central Collegiate Ski Association, that includes several schools in adjacent states that have varsity ski programs: Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, St. Cloud State, St. Scholastica, and St. Olaf. (As you can see, NCAA skiing is interdivisional.) Unlike the other ski conferences in the NCAA, the CCSA sponsors Nordic (cross-country) skiing only and thus doesn't compete in Alpine (downhill) skiing. That's probably a concession to the limited access to downhill ski resorts in the upper Midwest, although MTU and NMU aren't that far from the Porcupine Mountains Ski Area and the Snowriver Mountain Ski Resort up in the U.P., and St. Scholastica is pretty close to the Giants Ridge ski resort up on the Iron Range.

[WUPHF]

Just one, UW-Green Bay. But there's a league, the Central Collegiate Ski Association, that includes several schools in adjacent states that have varsity ski programs: Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, St. Cloud State, St. Scholastica, and St. Olaf. (As you can see, NCAA skiing is interdivisional.) Unlike the other ski conferences in the NCAA, the CCSA sponsors Nordic (cross-country) skiing only and thus doesn't compete in Alpine (downhill) skiing. That's probably a concession to the limited access to downhill ski resorts in the upper Midwest, although MTU and NMU aren't that far from the Porcupine Mountains Ski Area and the Snowriver Mountain Ski Resort up in the U.P., and St. Scholastica is pretty close to the Giants Ridge ski resort up on the Iron Range.

Thanks Greg, interesting.

[Gregory Sager]

CCIW announcement on CUW

CUW announcement

Does this mean the CCIW will do away with the 1 non-conference game every year or will there be a rotating schedule every year where you don't play one team? I would prefer the non-conference game to be removed so that Rivalries are protected.

This will still be a ten-team league for football, so the current pattern of nine CCIW games starting in Week Three, following a non-conference game and a bye (in either order) in Week One and Week Two, will stay the same after a one-year hiatus.

The only difference is that associate member Wash U is leaving the circuit and full member Concordia (WI) is joining ... which means more bus time will be logged by your Big Blue, but the MU winning percentage will benefit. The Falcons are definitely not on par with the Bears on the gridiron.

The one-year hiatus is what seems to be the sticking point. Wash U is gone for good after this season, but CUW doesn't begin CCIW play until the fall of 2027. I haven't checked this out with anybody official yet, but it appears to me that CCIW teams will have to pick up an extra non-conference game for the 2026 season. Tellingly, the FUTURE SCHEDULES dropdown on the CCIW football page is blank at the moment.

The issue here isn't that the CCIW will have to go back to a nine-team format for 2026 (two non-conference games for everybody, with a staggered bye scheduled in amongst the nine teams over the course of Weeks Three thru Eleven as they play an eight-game CCIW schedule). It's that the schedule will last for only one season, with the league returning to a ten-team format (one non-con game in either Week One or Week Two, alternated with a bye, followed by nine CCIW games in Weeks Three thru Eleven) in 2027 with the inclusion of CUW in the round-robin. And D3 college football scheduling for non-conference typically runs on two-year contracts, with one team home the first year and the other team home the second. That's going to make it much harder for coaches to get that extra non-con game scheduled for 2026.

[USee]

WashU is dropping off and CUW is replacing them. There will still be 1 Non Conf game for everyone

[CarollFan]

Some previews/game notes for tomorrow's games.

Carthage @ NCC

WashU @ Carroll

NPU @ Millikin

Elmhurst @ IWU

https://athletics.augustana.edu/news/2025/9/19/football-welcomes-no-17-wheaton-in-home-opener.aspx

[Gregory Sager]

WashU is dropping off and CUW is replacing them. There will still be 1 Non Conf game for everyone

CUW is not replacing Wash U for football purposes until 2027. Note the date in the headline.

[Pat Coleman]

WashU is dropping off and CUW is replacing them. There will still be 1 Non Conf game for everyone

CUW is not replacing Wash U for football purposes until 2027. Note the date in the headline.

Pretty sure Usee was answering the same thing you and I were in BIGBLUE BEN's question about non-conference games.

[Gregory Sager]

I figured he was replying to me, since he posted directly subsequent to mine. If not, I apologize to USee.

[USee]

Regardless of my intentions, I accept Sager's apology  as it's a rare event.  That said, Pat is right.

[USee]

Biggest wildcard in Rock Island for the Thunder today is Augie QB Jimmy Makuh. The sophomore QB threw it 50x in the OT win at Simpson, completing 63% of his throws for 375 yds and 4 TD's (2 INT). I watched the game and Makuh is legit. He can throw it as well as anyone you will see at the D3 level. After giving up 307 yds and 5 TD's to Mikey Maloney from Mt Union 2 weeks ago, the Thunder get no reprieve tonight.

[Captain_Joe08]

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.

[Gregory Sager]

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.

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.

[CarollFan]

Good one going on in Waukesha.
WashU scores late in first half to take 27-26 lead.

A lot going on from long TD pass to kick off return for WashU. Carroll blocked extra pt ran it back for 2 points. Carroll starting SO QB for his first start. Carroll getting its running game going. I'll provide stats at the end.

[Captain_Joe08]

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.

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.