FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[NCC2010]

Per Logan Hansen's model, NCC's quadrant is the toughest of all time.  Wartburg's is #3 overall and the worst draw ever for a #1 seed.  A lot of this has to do with the field being expanded to 40 teams, as most of the toughest quadrants have occurred these last 2 seasons.  Needless to say, tough road ahead for both CCIW playoff teams.

https://x.com/LogHanRatings/status/1990506417242189948?s=20

[Gregory Sager]

As previously stated multiple times, WashU's CCIW ouster had nothing to do with them being a full member or not.

So what you are saying is that if WashU had been a full member, they still would have been kicked to the curb?!

Not sure I'm buying that one.

There's nothing to buy, Kovo, because Wash U would never, ever, ever be a full member of the CCIW ... not in this universe, at least. Wash U would never want to be a full member -- why should it, when it's already a member of a league (the UAA) that consists of its D3 peer institutions, such as the U of Chicago, Emory, NYU, Carnegie-Mellon, etc.? -- and I really don't think that the CCIW would ever want Wash U to be a full member, either, for the following reasons:

The CCIW consists of small liberal arts colleges that have enrollments between 1,500 and 3,000 undergraduates, relatively small graduate programs and enrollments (if any; at least one CCIW school is strictly undergrad-only), and endowments that range from about $80m to $610m. Wash U is a mid-sized research university, with over 8,000 undergrads and over 7,000 grad students. It's not only a research university, it's a very high-powered and nationally respected research university. It's a member of the AAU, which is the crème de la crème of research universities in the U.S., and it has a medical school and its own hospital system in St. Louis. And it has an endowment of $12b -- that's billion, not million -- which means that Wash U has somewhere between six to seven times as much money (not including property and facilities) as the entire CCIW membership combined.

To give you an idea of where Wash U stands in the universe of American higher education, that school has hosted four presidential debates (1992, 2000, 2004, and 2016) and a vice-presidential debate (2008). Can you imagine a CCIW school hosting a presidential debate? I can't; none of our schools has a national profile anywhere close to making it a suitable location for a presidential debate, and that includes Wheaton. I doubt that any CCIW school even has the infrastructure to host one.

In short, we are nine hobbits. Wash U is Smaug.

[CarollFan]

2025 All-CCIW

https://cciw.org/news/2025/11/18/cciw-reveals-2025-football-major-awards-and-all-conference-teams.aspx

CCIW Art Keller Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year
Thomas Skokna, North Central
 
CCIW Don Larson Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year
John Sullivan, North Central
 
CCIW Offensive Line Student-Athlete of the Year
Cortez Jones, North Central

[CarollFan]

A couple observations on All-CCIW.

Half the starting QB's in the conference are on it. 2 first team, 3 second team.
4 NCC DL on first team.
Both Breckheimer and Juska (TE's) make first team.

[NCC2010]

To USee's prior post about the ever expanding All-CCIW selections, there were 16 first teamers on each offense and defense.  Up from 12 each back in 2010.  2nd team is about the same as it was then. No issue with it just pointing out the increase in selections.

Congrats to all the players who were selected!

[CarollFan]

Logan's predictions this week.

He gives Wheaton 100% chance to win.
He has WashU as the underdog given them a 27.2% chance to win.

https://hansenratings.github.io/2025%20Round%201.html

[Gregory Sager]

While, naturally, North Park's contributions to the All-CCIW team consisted of high-profile seniors Jereme Ombogo, Ben Butler, Wesley McCloud, and Theo Smith, I was very pleased to see NPU sophomore LB Armando Martinez make 2nd team. The Vikings need a lot of work in a lot of areas, but the underclassmen-dominated linebacker corps that includes Martinez, his fellow soph DJ Johnson, and freshman Kory Pradia have a chance to be really special. They're carrying on the legacy of Jaydin Miller and Egan Bender, who made the LB room one of the key strengths of the Park's 5-5 seasons in 2023 and 2024.

[WUPHF]

To give you an idea of where Wash U stands in the universe of American higher education, that school has hosted four presidential debates (1992, 2000, 2004, and 2016) and a vice-presidential debate (2008).

Bears got lucky a few times there.

It all started when Senator Danforth was the chair of the commission to change the way debates were held.  He called his brother and said hey you have a space right?  They had a good enough space and the staff to handle things free of charge.

A number of schools were offered the VP debate but nobody wanted it.  Biden vs. Palin ended up being the first VP debate that anyone cared about to that point.

The CCIW is a seriously great league though and I am thankful that the Bears were part of things for 7 seasons.  But it is time for everyone to move on.

[Gregory Sager]

To USee's prior post about the ever expanding All-CCIW selections, there were 16 first teamers on each offense and defense.  Up from 12 each back in 2010.  2nd team is about the same as it was then. No issue with it just pointing out the increase in selections.

Inflation affects everything these days.

[Gregory Sager]

To give you an idea of where Wash U stands in the universe of American higher education, that school has hosted four presidential debates (1992, 2000, 2004, and 2016) and a vice-presidential debate (2008).

Bears got lucky a few times there.

Senator Danforth was the chair of the commission to change the way debates were held.  He called his brother and said hey you have a space right?  They had a good enough space and the staff to handle things free of charge.

For some reason I never put together before today the fact that the former Missouri senator and the former chancellor of Wash U who is credited with building the school's national profile (and after whom the school's Danforth Campus is named) were brothers. All I knew about Sen. John Danforth was that he is also an Episcopal priest as well as an heir to the Ralston Purina fortune. I'm guessing that Wash U was to at least some degree erected upon a foundation of pet food.

The CCIW is a seriously great league though and I am thankful that the Bears were part of things for 7 seasons.  But it is time for everyone to move on.

Agreed, and I wish we could. But some people just can't let the subject go.

[Nitzermania]

To USee's prior post about the ever expanding All-CCIW selections, there were 16 first teamers on each offense and defense.  Up from 12 each back in 2010.  2nd team is about the same as it was then. No issue with it just pointing out the increase in selections.

Until recently there was a category for honorable mention.  I have no idea when that disappeared, but suspect that some of the players in 1st and 2nd teams would have moved down to that category if it existed.  The awards were also shared among players from 8 institutions/teams until the return of Carroll in 2016 and addition of Wash U in 2018, so now shared among 10 teams.  Probably evens out a bit.  Truly an honor to be awarded 1st or 2nd team CCIW!

[WUPHF]

All I knew about Sen. John Danforth was that he is also an Episcopal priest as well as an heir to the Ralston Purina fortune. I'm guessing that Wash U was to at least some degree erected upon a foundation of pet food.

Built first on a foundation of wood utensils through the Cupples and Brookings families and then pet food through the Danforth family.

[GusD]

Lastly--I'm personally bummed about the Wash U ouster.  Loved having them in the conference.  I think they greatly elevated the level of play.  Go beat Stout!

I second this notion. WashU is an elite academic institution and an all-around class organization. Though only an associate member I feel its association served, at least in some small way, to help elevate the stature of the CCIW. During the course of WU's membership, they were without question the #3 team on the gridiron, lining up only behind NCC and Wheaton. They thoroughly deserve their upcoming trip to the Isthmus Bowl. Hopefully they end their conference affiliation with another W.
I understand the CCIW wanting a full member. I don't know if the possibility existed or not, but I wish there was a way to add that full member while still retaining WU.
The NCAC's gain is the CCIW's loss. 

As previously stated multiple times, WashU's CCIW ouster had nothing to do with them being a full member or not.

You missed my point, USee. I wasn't advocating for WashU to become a full CCIW member. Merely stating that I thought they were a credit to the conference, and that I wish they could somehow still be an associate member for football despite the addition of another full member. 

[Gregory Sager]

To USee's prior post about the ever expanding All-CCIW selections, there were 16 first teamers on each offense and defense.  Up from 12 each back in 2010.  2nd team is about the same as it was then. No issue with it just pointing out the increase in selections.

Until recently there was a category for honorable mention.  I have no idea when that disappeared, but suspect that some of the players in 1st and 2nd teams would have moved down to that category if it existed.

"Recently" is a bit of a stretch, since CCIW football hasn't had an All-CCIW honorable mention team since 1995.*

For those of you who want to do the numbers for these things, the honorable-mention era of All-CCIW teams included 30 players per level, for a total of 90 players in what had shrunk to a league of eight teams four seasons prior to that era coming to an end. From 1996 onward, the All-CCIW second team expanded to include two or four extra players, but the overall number of players honored with All-CCIW status was obviously pared down dramatically to 62 or 64.

The awards were also shared among players from 8 institutions/teams until the return of Carroll in 2016 and addition of Wash U in 2018, so now shared among 10 teams.  Probably evens out a bit.  Truly an honor to be awarded 1st or 2nd team CCIW!

Absolutely.

* I love it when a poster writes something that badly dates him, as long as that poster isn't me for a change.

[Nitzermania]

"Recently" is a bit of a stretch, since CCIW football hasn't had an All-CCIW honorable mention team since 1995.*

Very interesting!  I had no idea it had been 30 years since seeing that category, would have thought more like 10-15 years.  Thank you, Greg!