NCAA DI Rankings Updated (11/19/2024)

NCAA DI Rankings have been updated and they can be found here

The biggest rankings-related news of the week is something that impacts the biggest weight class. Last week, Gable Steveson announced that he will return to Minnesota to use his final year of collegiate eligibility. The two-time Hodge Trophy winner immediately slots in at the top spot at 285 lbs. That bumps undefeated 2024 national champion Greg Kerkvliet down to #2. He and Steveson have met twice in college and, in both instances, Steveson won a five-point decision. Because of the Big Ten scheduling, we won’t get to see the third chapter take place in the regular season, we’ll have to wait until Big Ten’s. 

Two wrestlers we discussed in the “five rankings questions” article were Vince Robinson and Sammy Sasso. Since Robinson got the start in all three of NC State’s duals over the last week (and was victorious in all three). He makes his rankings debut at 125 lbs. 

We’ve inserted Sammy Sasso in the rankings at 165 lbs. A much more detailed description of our choice for Sammy is in the “five questions” article. Long story short, we’re being very conservative with Sasso. Ohio State wrestles a great schedule. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to move up. 

Steveson’s return has pushed Minnesota into the top five from a team tournament standpoint. After that top-five, it is very chaotic. Last week, we saw NC State tumble after a tough couple of upsets at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. They bounced back a bit into the top 20. Because of Nick Feldman’s loss at the All-Star Classic, Ohio State dropped this week. I wouldn’t anticipate that they are at #12 very long. Once again, #7 through #16 are only separated by 13.5 points - so an upset or two (positively or negatively) for a team’s top wrestlers could cause a team to move sharply like NC State did last week or Ohio State did this time. 

I said it last week and I’ll say it again, because of the close nature of all of the teams between #7 and #20, this portion of the rankings could be like a yo-yo and move up and down all year.