Wrestleknownothing

Buying anything today versus a week ago.

In general there are fewer returning points this year. A lot fewer. Last year 196 wrestlers who scored 1,066.5 points (out of 1,437.5, 74.2%) returned in 2025. This year 206 wrestlers who scored 863.5 points (out of 1438, 60%) return for 2026.

Those 120.5 transferred points from 2024? They scored 111.5 points in 2025. But it was a tale of two cities. In Stillwater the four transfers each exceeded their 2024 total in 2025. In aggregate they beat their prior year points by 33. In Iowa City one transfer exceeded his 2024 total and two missed, for an aggregate 20 fewer points in 2025.

With ramped up transfer activity, and pending activity, it got me thinking about the returning points graphic I did last year with color coded sources. I started building the data and it struck me how few returning points are actually up for grabs in the portal this year. For returning points I am being strict in the definition. This is based on points scored in the 2025 tournament. I know if it is your team you want to put on those rose colored glasses and talk about the most points the wrestler has ever scored (sorry Richie Figueroa), or what you think they are capable of scoring (everyone is a potential finalist in someone's opinion). Only 25.5 returning points have transferred so far (1.8% of all points scored). And only 26 remaining points are looking for a new home. There are 51.5 total points (3.6%) looking to, or already, transferred (vs. last year 120.5 or 8.4%). That's it. Everything else is about potential, that most elusive of mistresses.

Think of Figueroa as a likely value buy. At the end of 2024 he would have been a very pricey pick up in the portal. After 2025, not so much. Sure, he had a rough tournament, but he still represents a big upgrade over whoever else they have in the room.

It isn't too late. I will still take the other side of that bet.

And yet he finds so many ways to be wrong. It is a talent.

I work with large data sets to try and figure whatever/stuff out. I call it rolling around in the numbers until something happens. My dad called it torturing the numbers until they speak. I also describe my job as, "it is hard to tell the difference between what I do, and goofing around". So that affords some latitude.

Back in the day this was called a dead cat bounce. As in, even a dead cat will bounce when you drop it. There were a lot of colorful descriptions back in the day. Not necessarily true, but colorful.

It is even worse than that. China is gathering allies in the fight against the US. Just a few short months ago it was the opposite. China was the economic bully that other countries in the region were aligning themselves with the US to fight. There was someone on here warning about how the BRICS currency was going to replace the dollar as the world's reserve currency. Trump's actions are making that a more realistic threat.

The last available data shows that half the cars produced in China were for export to other countries, mostly in Europe. Think of the balance of trade benefits for Trump when Musk starts producing everything in the US and exports them to China and Europe. Come on Elon, you spent >$250mm to get your boy elected, you are trying to buy judicial elections in Wisconsin, now is the time to re-patriate Tesla production. No more bowing to communist regimes. You know, because you are a patriot.

That's 32,000 jobs coming back to the US in the next few days. Can I get an amen?

Or the one in Germany? Surely those will be the first factories re-patriated to the US. Certainly he and Trump wont be hypocrites on this one, right?

The hearing recessed for the day. The judge has open questions. How will existing rostered athletes be treated if cap is in place? Cuts? Or grandfathered in? What are the rights of future athletes? Can you make the settlement binding on someone not born yet? How does the settlement interact with existing state laws? And others? The two sides are in agreement and have a week to respond to questions. So no settlement today.

It is thought that schools will follow a similar formula for direct payments as for the restitution payments, so figure between 0% and 5% for Olympic and non-revenue sports. For these guys it really will still be only NIL. As for raising extra money to make direct payments, schools will experiment with all manner of creative solutions. Whatever works will be adopted by others. Tennessee is already adding a "talent fee" to ticket prices to raise money.

Yep, there were only ever 4 or 5 court watchers in the crowd.

My dad, my daughter, and my money all went to Villanova, so I am very familiar. He went nowhere in the pros, so you would have to be a college basketball fan to know him. There are a lot of college basketball fans and "The Shot" is pretty iconic and videos of it from the NCAA are loaded with ads.

Former Villanova basketball player Kris Jenkins has opted out of the settlement and filed his own lawsuit against the Power 5, Big East, and NCAA. His suit claims that videos of him hitting the game winner in the 2016 NCAA final is the first and third most viewed video on the NCAA's March Madness Youtube page.

The $600 is a different pot

yep. and 5% may be optimistic. and the damage payments are made over 10 years. and it covers athletes who were in those sports from 2016 to 2025.

Amen. I usually do, but then I did all that color coding and I think I got too excited. I will do better next time.

Parris is a surname, not who he wrestles for.