Titans picked 7th

Illinois Wesleyan was picked 7th in the annual CCIW preseason coaches poll.

1.) Augustana 47 (6)
2.) Elmhurst 43 (2)
3.) Wheaton 37
4.) North Park 29
5.) Carthage 26
6.) North Central 18
7.) Illinois Wesleyan 16
8.) Millikin 8

I agree with the top four, in the order they appear in the poll. Augustana seems to be the favorite with 6-9 Dain Swetalla, guard Jordan Delp, and Iowa transfer Brett Wessels, to go along with a lot of depth. Elmhurst has a terrific 1-2 punch in 6-9 Brent Ruch and wing Ryan Burks. Wheaton has the best player in Division III for my money, guard Kent Raymond. North Park seems to be one of the young, emerging teams in the league and probably a favorite, at this early stage, to make the conference tournament.

After that, it gets real fuzzy. Carthage, North Central, the Titans, and Millikin all have significant questions. To me, North Central is the team is the worst shape - the Cards lost a ton (Anthony Simmons, Dan Walton, Adam Krumtinger) and are trying to replace with a couple transfers. Millikin is dealing with a coaching transition, which is always tough. Carthage has great perimeter players, but not much inside at all.

By CCIW time (January 9), I like the Titans to be the best of this group and ready to make a push at that 4th conference tournament spot.

Green/White scrimmage tonight @ 7:00pm - see you there.