The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Presidents Council defeated a proposal from the men's basketball coaches that would have created a play-in date to determine the four teams who would play in the CCIW men's basketball tournament. The proposal, supported by the conference athletics directors, would have taken effect during the 2008-09 season.

The play-in would have given the feel of an eight-team conference tournament, though each team would have to give up a regular-season contest from its allotment of 25 in order to participate.

“For a variety of reasons, the presidents agreed that the proposed format would impact the conference in a negative manner and chose to defeat the play-in date proposal,” CCIW Commissioner Chris Martin said. “The ultimate authority for the operation of all facets of the conference rests with our chief executive officers and, in this case, the group disagreed with the coaches and athletics directors.”

By defeating the proposal, the tournament participants and seeding will continue to be based on the double round robin regular season men's basketball schedule. The top four teams from the regular season standings will earn the right to play in the conference tournament, which will be held at the site of the regular season champion.

The CCIW awards its automatic bid to the winner of the conference tournament, as does every conference which has an automatic bid and a tournament.