MBB: Midwest Conference

[wizbegs1304]

DECEMBER 12, 2008
Carroll awaits response to joining CCIW
WAUKESHA - Carroll University is awaiting word from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin on whether it is interested in the school rejoining its former conference.

Source: http://www.freemanol.com/

Under Prep sports section...

[fightintitan2006]

The circle of abuse continues...while Carroll has been more impressive across the board athletically of late, odds are, aside from maybe women's basketball and maybe a few other sports, it becomes a CCIW cellar dweller...than the kids don't want to go there and the good coaches leave and you have a few decades of mediocrity before leaving for the Northern Athletics Conference.

If the CCIW wanted a member that made sense from the MWC, it should be St. Norbert. SNC is probably more of a CCIW school than an MWC school and has an athletic pedigree that suggests it would compete better in that league.

[Titan Q]

The circle of abuse continues...while Carroll has been more impressive across the board athletically of late, odds are, aside from maybe women's basketball and maybe a few other sports, it becomes a CCIW cellar dweller...than the kids don't want to go there and the good coaches leave and you have a few decades of mediocrity before leaving for the Northern Athletics Conference.

If the CCIW wanted a member that made sense from the MWC, it should be St. Norbert. SNC is probably more of a CCIW school than an MWC school and has an athletic pedigree that suggests it would compete better in that league.

I've heard quite a bit of chatter lately about MWC schools Carroll and St. Norbert petitioning to join the CCIW.  Sounds like the discussion is at a pretty serious level. 

For the record, I can't really see this materializing.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I've always thought 8 was the perfect size (for football as well as bball) - easy scheduling and just the right balance of conference and non-con games.

Any odd number is a mess for scheduling, so I'd guess they'd take both or neither (and I vote for neither, though I have nothing against either school).  But the CCIW certainly ain't broke, so why fix it?

[The Roop]

I've heard that a couple of the northernmost teams would like to see Grinnell join another conference to ease the travel burden. Haven't really heard anything about anybody wanting to leave themselves however. Although 1 less team would allow a double round robin schedule in basketball and a second non-conference game in football so it wouldn't bother me.

[Gregory Sager]

The circle of abuse continues...while Carroll has been more impressive across the board athletically of late, odds are, aside from maybe women's basketball and maybe a few other sports, it becomes a CCIW cellar dweller...than the kids don't want to go there and the good coaches leave and you have a few decades of mediocrity before leaving for the Northern Athletics Conference.

Carroll isn't going to be asked to come back into the CCIW. The school burned too many bridges when it left the league back in the early '90s, thanks to its former president. Besides, as Chuck said, the CCIW is definitely in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp with regard to membership.

If the CCIW wanted a member that made sense from the MWC, it should be St. Norbert. SNC is probably more of a CCIW school than an MWC school and has an athletic pedigree that suggests it would compete better in that league.

St. Norbert might make sense for the CCIW from a competitive standpoint, but it doesn't make a lick of sense from a geographic standpoint. Here's the estimated driving time to DePere, WI from the CCIW's eight campuses:

Carthage (Kenosha, WI)	2 hrs, 45 min
North Park (Chicago's North Side)	3 hrs, 30 min
Elmhurst (Elmhurst, IL)	3 hrs, 30 min
Wheaton (Wheaton, IL)	3 hrs, 50 min
North Central (Naperville, IL)	3 hrs, 50 min
Augustana (Rock Island, IL)	5 hrs, 5 min
Illinois Wesleyan (Bloomington, IL)	5 hrs, 25 min
Millikin (Decatur, IL)	6 hrs, 15 min

Keep in mind that the CCIW puts a lot of value in its geographical compactness. The four Chicagoland schools are all within an hour's drive of each other, Carthage is only an hour and a half north of the Chicagoland Four, Illinois Wesleyan is two and a half hours south, and Augie and Millikin are each three hours away. That greatly minimizes time spent in a bus (and, thus, time spent off campus that could be utilized in the classroom or the library).

No offense to that fine school, but St. Norbert is a travel headache that the CCIW doesn't need.

[petemcb]

The circle of abuse continues...while Carroll has been more impressive across the board athletically of late, odds are, aside from maybe women's basketball and maybe a few other sports, it becomes a CCIW cellar dweller...than the kids don't want to go there and the good coaches leave and you have a few decades of mediocrity before leaving for the Northern Athletics Conference.

Carroll isn't going to be asked to come back into the CCIW. The school burned too many bridges when it left the league back in the early '90s, thanks to its former president. Besides, as Chuck said, the CCIW is definitely in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp with regard to membership.

If the CCIW wanted a member that made sense from the MWC, it should be St. Norbert. SNC is probably more of a CCIW school than an MWC school and has an athletic pedigree that suggests it would compete better in that league.

St. Norbert might make sense for the CCIW from a competitive standpoint, but it doesn't make a lick of sense from a geographic standpoint. Here's the estimated driving time to DePere, WI from the CCIW's eight campuses:

Carthage (Kenosha, WI)	2 hrs, 45 min
North Park (Chicago's North Side)	3 hrs, 30 min
Elmhurst (Elmhurst, IL)	3 hrs, 30 min
Wheaton (Wheaton, IL)	3 hrs, 50 min
North Central (Naperville, IL)	3 hrs, 50 min
Augustana (Rock Island, IL)	5 hrs, 5 min
Illinois Wesleyan (Bloomington, IL)	5 hrs, 25 min
Millikin (Decatur, IL)	6 hrs, 15 min

Keep in mind that the CCIW puts a lot of value in its geographical compactness. The four Chicagoland schools are all within an hour's drive of each other, Carthage is only an hour and a half north of the Chicagoland Four, Illinois Wesleyan is two and a half hours south, and Augie and Millikin are each three hours away. That greatly minimizes time spent in a bus (and, thus, time spent off campus that could be utilized in the classroom or the library).

No offense to that fine school, but St. Norbert is a travel headache that the CCIW doesn't need.

I heard about a vacant campus in Carthage, Illinois........

[Mr. Ypsi]

pete,

If it hasn't been recycled, I fear it might be a bit long-in-the-tooth.

Maybe Carroll wants to try to improve on their .339 CCIW record (by far the worst in conference history).

[PC]

I have to agree with Mr Sager on SNC and the CCIW... and as i think about it who would want them?  Being the farthest north school in whatever conference they could be in they will always be looked at as a travel burden.  At least in the MWC they are close to Ripon and Lawrence.

[The Roop]

Maybe SNC should join the UMAC. Then they'd only need 1 more for an automatic bid in football but would be under Pool B criteria in the mean time. See what SNCOLDAD has to say about that. LMAO. 

[hickory_cornhusker]

Maybe SNC should join the UMAC. Then they'd only need 1 more for an automatic bid in football but would be under Pool B criteria in the mean time. See what SNCOLDAD has to say about that. LMAO. 

Get Finlandia to start a football team and join the UMAC too and they would be all set for a Pool A bid.

[hickory_cornhusker]

Here is another article from the Freeman back on Nov. 19 about this.

http://activepaper.olivesoftware.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q1RGLzIwMDgvMTEvMTkjQXIwMTEwOA==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

Has anyone heard any talk about the reorganizing the league that gets mentioned in this article?

[larry_u]

Here is another article from the Freeman back on Nov. 19 about this.

http://activepaper.olivesoftware.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q1RGLzIwMDgvMTEvMTkjQXIwMTEwOA==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom

Has anyone heard any talk about the reorganizing the league that gets mentioned in this article?

I have no knowledge of this whatsoever, but if they were to reorganize, I would guess they would resplit into a North and South division with Ripon, Lawrence, Beloit and Lake Forest in thre North, and Monmouth, Knox, IC and Grinnell in the South.  It would be interesting to see if they planned on keeping it an 8 team league, or if they looked to find other schools that fit the academic nature of the conference, like MSOE or something like that.  8 works out well for this size of a conference, as for football you get 2 non-conference games with a full round robin, and for basketball you would get a full round robin schedule with 2 more non-conference games as well.   The thing to remember is that this leage has always been moving teams in and out, back to when it was a mixture of Minnesota Iowa and Wisconsin teams back in the 50's and 60's.  I'm sure the league will continue to do fine no matter what happens.

[Eastside]

Early 70's featured:  Lawrence, Ripon, Beloit, Knox, Monmouth, Lake Forest, Coe, Cornell, Grinnell, Carleton and St. Olaf.

[wizbegs1304]

MSOE will never be in the MWC.  They tried to get in two years ago and did not qualify, mostly I think because they did not offer a football program.  I know they tried to get in, I almost want to say Clarke College did as well, when both were suppose to enter the newly formed Northern Athletics Conference.

MSOE had to stay independent for a year and screwed up the AQ for Northern Athletics which they finally got in under certain rules.