So help me get this straight…

[Tigerfan]

There are so many things happening in college sports I’m having trouble distilling it all into how NCAA D1 wrestling will be impacted. Big10 and SEC will withdraw from NCAA and start their own organization, ostensibly to benefit FB/BB almost exclusively. NIL money is basically robbing Peter to pay Paul, since those donations used to go to the schools to help fund Oly sports, offsetting the costs of competitive FB/BB programs. Declining enrollments and ever escalating costs will ultimately force almost all schools to cut Oly sports in order to compete in the FB/BB arms race. PSU, Iowa, Michigan, and maybe a few others have the self-funding to carry on, but no one else will have the cash to compete with them.
 

Another D1 school adding women’s wrestling ain’t happening. “Total pipedream”.
 

D1 wrestling is a dead man walking. I give it 5 years. Enjoy every bit we have left, because winter is coming. 
 

It should be noted that my understanding of the situation comes mostly from well-connected people who are the opposite of reactionary in their professional capacities. 

Is that about the gist of it? Will non-school affiliated club teams take over? Will anyone care? Attendance at freestyle events is dismal. Will that change? Enquiring minds want to know. 

[Idaho]

Discussed here...

 

 

[billyhoyle]

13 hours ago, Tigerfan said:

There are so many things happening in college sports I’m having trouble distilling it all into how NCAA D1 wrestling will be impacted. Big10 and SEC will withdraw from NCAA and start their own organization, ostensibly to benefit FB/BB almost exclusively. NIL money is basically robbing Peter to pay Paul, since those donations used to go to the schools to help fund Oly sports, offsetting the costs of competitive FB/BB programs. Declining enrollments and ever escalating costs will ultimately force almost all schools to cut Oly sports in order to compete in the FB/BB arms race. PSU, Iowa, Michigan, and maybe a few others have the self-funding to carry on, but no one else will have the cash to compete with them.
 

Another D1 school adding women’s wrestling ain’t happening. “Total pipedream”.
 

D1 wrestling is a dead man walking. I give it 5 years. Enjoy every bit we have left, because winter is coming. 
 

It should be noted that my understanding of the situation comes mostly from well-connected people who are the opposite of reactionary in their professional capacities. 

Is that about the gist of it? Will non-school affiliated club teams take over? Will anyone care? Attendance at freestyle events is dismal. Will that change? Enquiring minds want to know. 

NCAA wrestling will still exist, but there will be fewer teams and fewer opportunities for athletes.  It's a shame, but the sport seems to be decreasing in popularity anyway over the past 10 years or so with the lack of interest in the regular season making NCAAs really the only event worth watching. The problem with that approach is because of the lack of the regular season, we lose the drama associated with NCAAs.

Also, the transfers only magnify this problem because it decreases parity and the athletes are less associated with their universities. There is unfortunately no incentive for the major programs that control the sport to work to increase its popularity overall (vs ensure their own success at NCAAs). 

Edited March 3 by billyhoyle

[MPhillips]

5 hours ago, billyhoyle said:

It's a shame, but the sport seems to be decreasing in popularity anyway over the past 10 years or so with the lack of interest in the regular season making NCAAs really the only event worth watching.

Do you mean popularity in regards to participants, popularity in regards to interest or popularity in regards to viewership?  

 

 

[MadMardigain]

The travel cost associated with these super conferences sure isn’t helping the smaller sports any.  It likely be easier for some schools to just have regional competitions for many sports most of their season and not have a traditional conference schedule.   

[Red Blades]

1 hour ago, MadMardigain said:

The travel cost associated with these super conferences sure isn’t helping the smaller sports any.  It likely be easier for some schools to just have regional competitions for many sports most of their season and not have a traditional conference schedule.   

I've been wondering if this may be part of the thinking with Ivy League wrestling separating from the EIWA - in this case, the traditional rivalries are also regional, and the thinking may be that the best course for survival is to focus on the core brand.  I still don't see Hockey going that way (they are still staying with the larger ECAC), but I'm wondering if that may be the next step.

[1032004]

23 hours ago, Tigerfan said:

There are so many things happening in college sports I’m having trouble distilling it all into how NCAA D1 wrestling will be impacted. Big10 and SEC will withdraw from NCAA and start their own organization, ostensibly to benefit FB/BB almost exclusively. NIL money is basically robbing Peter to pay Paul, since those donations used to go to the schools to help fund Oly sports, offsetting the costs of competitive FB/BB programs. Declining enrollments and ever escalating costs will ultimately force almost all schools to cut Oly sports in order to compete in the FB/BB arms race. PSU, Iowa, Michigan, and maybe a few others have the self-funding to carry on, but no one else will have the cash to compete with them.
 

Another D1 school adding women’s wrestling ain’t happening. “Total pipedream”.
 

D1 wrestling is a dead man walking. I give it 5 years. Enjoy every bit we have left, because winter is coming. 
 

It should be noted that my understanding of the situation comes mostly from well-connected people who are the opposite of reactionary in their professional capacities. 

Is that about the gist of it? Will non-school affiliated club teams take over? Will anyone care? Attendance at freestyle events is dismal. Will that change? Enquiring minds want to know. 

I hadn’t really thought of the impact to women’s wrestling.  It seems the biggest thing it had going for it was helping with Title IX compliance.

I know it’s been speculated that some schools not in the Big Ten/SEC could drop football which will make Title IX compliance much easier…

[jajensen09]

10 hours ago, billyhoyle said:

NCAA wrestling will still exist, but there will be fewer teams and fewer opportunities for athletes.  It's a shame, but the sport seems to be decreasing in popularity anyway over the past 10 years or so with the lack of interest in the regular season making NCAAs really the only event worth watching. The problem with that approach is because of the lack of the regular season, we lose the drama associated with NCAAs.

Also, the transfers only magnify this problem because it decreases parity and the athletes are less associated with their universities. There is unfortunately no incentive for the major programs that control the sport to work to increase its popularity overall (vs ensure their own success at NCAAs). 

If you are talking about popularity in General I think you are wrong. Nebraska high school wrestling is at the highest numbers it has ever been. I'm sure that's not just a nebraska thing either

[billyhoyle]

2 hours ago, 1032004 said:

I hadn’t really thought of the impact to women’s wrestling.  It seems the biggest thing it had going for it was helping with Title IX compliance.

I know it’s been speculated that some schools not in the Big Ten/SEC could drop football which will make Title IX compliance much easier…

2 hours ago, jajensen09 said:

If you are talking about popularity in General I think you are wrong. Nebraska high school wrestling is at the highest numbers it has ever been. I'm sure that's not just a nebraska thing either

Interest by fans in NCAA wrestling is what I’m talking about. 

[jajensen09]

1 hour ago, billyhoyle said:

Interest by fans in NCAA wrestling is what I’m talking about. 

You are seeing the boom in high school.  It'll follow to college

[AgaveMaria]

5 hours ago, 1032004 said:

I hadn’t really thought of the impact to women’s wrestling.  It seems the biggest thing it had going for it was helping with Title IX compliance.

I know it’s been speculated that some schools not in the Big Ten/SEC could drop football which will make Title IX compliance much easier…

You just open football and all sports to everyone. Women as well as men can try out.

You want Equality, this is it.

Women will wipe the floor with men in the balance beam but not much else.

Women's basketball will have to play with the bigger ball and compete with top talent.

"Separate but equal" has never been equal.

 

[MPhillips]

1 hour ago, billyhoyle said:

Interest by fans in NCAA wrestling is what I’m talking about. 

There is more opportunity for fans to watch wrestling now than there was ten years ago. I would think that interest and opportunity are tied to each other.  Just B1G/B1G+ and ESPN+ have given us the opportunity to tune in to all walks of wrestling. Much more than we had ten years ago. 

 

[billyhoyle]

2 hours ago, jajensen09 said:

You are seeing the boom in high school.  It'll follow to college

 

1 hour ago, MPhillips said:

There is more opportunity for fans to watch wrestling now than there was ten years ago. I would think that interest and opportunity are tied to each other.  Just B1G/B1G+ and ESPN+ have given us the opportunity to tune in to all walks of wrestling. Much more than we had ten years ago. 

 

The problem is that 95% of the season is meaningless, and the coaches have essentially stopped wrestling the regular season because of it.  Without the regular season, the only events that "matter" no longer have any storylines attached to them because there were very few prior matchups of significance.   

There was a huge drop in ratings last year for the NCAA finals, and I expect this year to be just as bad if not worse.  

[FanOfPurdueWrestling]

Why is this board sooo dramatic and pessimistic. If the NCAA doesn’t work out there are 100 different avenues that could be explored and implemented. Nothing last forever and wrestling could do itself favors governing itself. 

[FanOfPurdueWrestling]

On 3/2/2024 at 8:19 AM, Tigerfan said:

Another D1 school adding women’s wrestling ain’t happening. “Total pipedream”.

There have been 4 added in the past 4 years… you’re talking out your Debbie-downer little ass. 

[jajensen09]

1 hour ago, billyhoyle said:

 

The problem is that 95% of the season is meaningless, and the coaches have essentially stopped wrestling the regular season because of it.  Without the regular season, the only events that "matter" no longer have any storylines attached to them because there were very few prior matchups of significance.   

There was a huge drop in ratings last year for the NCAA finals, and I expect this year to be just as bad if not worse.  

The drop has to do more with due to Penn state and no drama at ncaas. I believe there needs to be more rules in place regarding matches/duals and a close to equal schedule for all teams.

[Fred]

1 hour ago, billyhoyle said:

 

The problem is that 95% of the season is meaningless, and the coaches have essentially stopped wrestling the regular season because of it.  Without the regular season, the only events that "matter" no longer have any storylines attached to them because there were very few prior matchups of significance.   

Correction… some of the coaches. PSU’s being the most glaring example.

Some teams, however, actually do wrestle full schedules and bring it every time.

[Wrestleknownothing]

3 hours ago, AgaveMaria said:

You just open football and all sports to everyone. Women as well as men can try out.

You want Equality, this is it.

Women will wipe the floor with men in the balance beam but not much else.

Women's basketball will have to play with the bigger ball and compete with top talent.

"Separate but equal" has never been equal.

 

[jajensen09]

7 minutes ago, Fred said:

Correction… some of the coaches. PSU’s being the most glaring example.

Some teams, however, actually do wrestle full schedules and bring it every time.

Agreed! PSU's noncon is an absolute joke

[Fred]

7 minutes ago, jajensen09 said:

Agreed! PSU's noncon is an absolute joke

Indeed. A majority of their starters haven’t even wrestled the 15 matches needed to get an RPI. Pathetic!

[Fadzaev2]

3 hours ago, MPhillips said:

There is more opportunity for fans to watch wrestling now than there was ten years ago. I would think that interest and opportunity are tied to each other.  Just B1G/B1G+ and ESPN+ have given us the opportunity to tune in to all walks of wrestling. Much more than we had ten years ago. 

 

Amen....I have a lot of friends excited about the increase in coverage!!!

 

[FanOfPurdueWrestling]

Just now, Fadzaev2 said:

Amen....I have a lot of friends excited about the increase in coverage!!!

 

Some dude at my BJJ gym was talking about how he watched Okie state vs Iowa and was excited for Big10s.
 

He never even wrestled. 

[Tigerfan]

1 hour ago, FanOfPurdueWrestling said:

There have been 4 added in the past 4 years… you’re talking out your Debbie-downer little ass. 

Are any of the other 3 D1 in anything else? Regardless, they are a far cry from B10/B12 caliber schools (athletically). 
 

Also, those were in the past. The whole subject of this thread is the how significantly different the future will be in these changing landscapes. 
 

Maybe I should have said no formerly known as a Power 5 conference schools will ever add women’s wrestling. 

[TylerDurden]

On 3/2/2024 at 9:19 AM, Tigerfan said:

There are so many things happening in college sports I’m having trouble distilling it all into how NCAA D1 wrestling will be impacted. Big10 and SEC will withdraw from NCAA and start their own organization, ostensibly to benefit FB/BB almost exclusively. NIL money is basically robbing Peter to pay Paul, since those donations used to go to the schools to help fund Oly sports, offsetting the costs of competitive FB/BB programs. Declining enrollments and ever escalating costs will ultimately force almost all schools to cut Oly sports in order to compete in the FB/BB arms race. PSU, Iowa, Michigan, and maybe a few others have the self-funding to carry on, but no one else will have the cash to compete with them.
 

Another D1 school adding women’s wrestling ain’t happening. “Total pipedream”.
 

D1 wrestling is a dead man walking. I give it 5 years. Enjoy every bit we have left, because winter is coming. 
 

It should be noted that my understanding of the situation comes mostly from well-connected people who are the opposite of reactionary in their professional capacities. 

Is that about the gist of it? Will non-school affiliated club teams take over? Will anyone care? Attendance at freestyle events is dismal. Will that change? Enquiring minds want to know. 

Perhaps, but you aren't dealing with them in their professional capacities. Collegiate athletics are an emotional endeavor.

[Tigerfan]

3 minutes ago, TylerDurden said:

Perhaps, but you aren't dealing with them in their professional capacities. Collegiate athletics are an emotional endeavor.

Actually, I am.