The Midwest Conference, and especially the league=s South Division, will have a different look this winter as Coe and Cornell have left the MWC to join the Iowa Conference. Lake Forest, a member of the MWC North since 1974, will compete in the South Division to give the league two five-team divisions. The top two teams from each division will advance to the conference postseason tournament.  

GRINNELL (11-12, 8-6; away January 23rd, home February 14th)....1996-97 Scores: (H) Monmouth 96-91, (A) Grinnell 151-112....Monmouth holds a 66-32 all-time series edge on the Pioneers after last season's split....Grinnell won their first MWC crown in 1996, defeating Ripon in the title game, and returned to the tournament last year as the division=s #2 seed...Grinnell has led the NCAA in scoring average the past three seasons...These two teams have hooked up in several wild high-scoring games in recent seasons, including a 151-112 contest in Grinnell last year which saw Grinnell=s Jeff Clement break the NCAA Division III record for three-point shots (16)....The 263 combined points tied an MC team record...The Scots' 134 points in a 1995 home win was the second-highest point total in team history and their 84 second-half points set a new team mark....Grinnell loses a few key starters but will return All-Conference guard Clement to fuel their wide-open, run-and-gun offense this season....With experience and talented players, Grinnell will be one of the prime contenders in the MWC South Division

ILLINOIS (7-15, 3-11; home January 21st, away February 4th)....1996-97 Scores: (H) Illinois 80-77, (A) Monmouth 75-71...Monmouth has dominated the all-time series (44-8) and had won 25 straight games against IC before losing at home last year by three points....The last Illinois victory before that game came in 1984....The Scots and Blueboys split last year, each winning on the road....Illinois won only 3 conference games last year with several underclassmen in their starting lineup...With a season's experience, the Blueboys could be a spoiler in the MWC South this year

KNOX (15-9, 9-5; home January 31st, away February 21st)....1996-97 Scores: (H) Knox 87-71, (A) Monmouth 70-65...Monmouth has played 173 basketball games against Knox, the most with any team in school history.... The Fighting Scots hold the all-time series edge at 97-76....The two teams split last season, each winning on the other=s home floor...Monmouth=s last overtime game was a 95-92 victory at Glennie Gym in the 1996 season finale.....The Prairie Fire advanced to the MWC playoffs in 1996 and reached the MWC title game last year before bowing to Lawrence 90-79....Fire are expected to be one of the division=s playoff contenders again this season with three returning Second Team All-Conference selections

LAKE FOREST (9-13, 7-7 MWC North; away January 17th, home February 7th)...1996-97 Score: (H) Lake Forest 71-55....Monmouth and Lake Forest have met 38 times in men=s basketball with the Foresters leading the all-time series 24-14....Lake Forest moves to the MWC South after competing in the North Division last season....The Foresters tied for third place in the division with a 7-7 record....Monmouth dropped a 16-point decision to LFC last year at Glennie Gymnasium....Foresters= top returner is First-Team All-Conference forward Mike Ansani

RIPON, the perennial championship contender from the North, lost its stranglehold on the divisional crown last year when upstart LAWRENCE rode a hot streak to its first-ever conference championship. The Vikings return 1997 Player of the Year Joel DePagter at guard and Second Team selection Ben Zagorski to defend its title while Ripon, beaten in the semifinals on a last-second Knox basket a year ago, will try to find the road to its 11th MWC tournament final in the past 13 years. CARROLL made the 1996 tourney field but graduated most of its offensive nucleus and will try to improve upon last year=s 11-11 mark. ST. NORBERT also finished at 11-11 while BELOIT, which nipped Ripon by one point in the 1995 conference finals, slipped to 7-15 and will attempt to get out of the North Division cellar.

 
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