bracketbuster

They only have 8 teams this year but looks like it could be a smaller tournament where guys could get a number of matches in a shorter time frame: https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/seasons/LoadBalance.jsp?seasonId=841725138&pageName=EventMatches.jsp&teamId=1735490147 I believe that link only shows wrestlers who have been added to a weigh in sheet for the tournament but 127 wrestlers are listed so far with Central Michigan and Virginia Tech yet to list any wrestlers. 32 from Drexel and 33 from Penn, so those two schools could be around 35-40% of the field depending on how many Central Michigan and Virginia Tech send.

I believe you need at least 6 teams to have a conference AQ for NCAA qualifying. Pac 12 right now has 4 but is in a two year grace period or they will lose their AQ(s). Somebody can correct me if I am wrong on that. I think this dual championship is just a Patriot vs. Independence Champion thing at the end of the year. I don't think second place wrestles second, third vs. third, etc. So most years I would think it will be Lehigh vs. Independence Champion. Would be cool to potentially see 2v2, etc. as now everybody kind of has to leave an open date on their schedule on the chance they win their division but only 2 out of 12 teams will use that date or weekend for this. If anything the "Independence" teams should form their own conference as they would be guaranteed 10 qualifying spots with those seven teams. Those 7 schools have won 45 automatic qualifier spots at the conference championships since 2017 (7 years). This is partially skewed because LIU only joined recently and Morgan State has yet to compete in an EIWA Championship. Also, I was looking at rankings on FloWrestling and I am hesitant to write this because I feel like they take some unnecessary ridicule and maybe I am just adding to it but it is really too much to ask that Flo knows which college teams go in which conference: https://www.flowrestling.org/rankings/12986049-2024-25-eiwa-conference-wrestling-rankings/50979-125-pounds They apparently missed the memo that Morgan State joined the EIWA during both of their first two ranking periods.

How did he decide which six schools to visit when there are 16 teams left on the graphic?

No mention of this on the LIU website even though the tweet came out on September 27 but the timing seems strange so close to the season. Lots of positive comments from the LIU wrestlers about their coach.

Obviously these are subject to change but some other stats I found interesting about team's starting lineups. Oldest teams in terms of experience (I gave 4 years for seniors, 3 for jrs., 2 for so., 1 for fr.) 1. Brown (37 years) - 7 srs, 3 jrs. 2. LIU (35 years) - 7 sr, 2 jr., 1 fr. 2. Sacred Heart (35 years) - 5 sr, 5 jr 4. Illinois (34 years) - 8 sr., 2 fr. 4. Rutgers (34 years) - 4 sr., 6 jr. 4. Central Michigan (4 sr., 6 jr.) Youngest teams 1. Franklin & Marshall (18 years) - 4 fr., 4 so, 2 jr. 2. SIU Edwardsville (20 years) - 2 fr., 6 so., 2 jr. 3. Presbyterian (21 years) - 2 fr., 6 so., 1 sr. 4. Morgan State (22 years) - 1 fr., 7 so., 1 jr., 1 sr. Most projected starting freshman 1. Franklin & Marshall - 4 2. American, Buffalo, Davidson, Rider, Stanford, Wisconsin - all have 3 Most Projected starting seniors 8 - Illinois 7 - Brown, LIU 6 - CSU Bakersfield, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma State No projected starting seniors Franklin & Marshall, Northern Illinois, SIU Edwardsville Starters by Classes (all teams) 253 seniors, 222 juniors, 221 sophomores, 94 freshman Most projected NCAA qualifiers (top 33 in wrestlestat) 10 - Northern Iowa, NC State, Minnesota, Ohio State 9 - Penn State, Michigan, VIrginia Tech, Illinois, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Nebraska Projected NCAA qualifiers by class 143 seniors, 101 juniors, 72 sophomores, 14 freshman Most projected All-Americans (top 8 in wrestlestat) 7 - Penn State 6 - Iowa, NC State 5 - Nebraska 4 - Michigan, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Cornell Projected All-Americans by class 41 seniors, 21 juniors, 15 sophomores, 2 freshman (Gabe Arnold, Beau Mantanona)

I was updating my conference interactive brackets with the team changes and figured I would post these here as a "preseason" conference rankings. These are the team's starters/rankings according to wrestlestat and so freshman who are projected to start are beginning at the back of the field since they don't have matches but figured it would be an interesting thing to see how teams progress as the season goes along. You can click on the conference name to see the interactive brackets which are empty. ACC 1. NC State - 82.5 2. Virginia Tech - 78 3. Stanford - 57.5 4. Pittsburgh - 36 5. North Carolina - 35 6. Virginia - 24.5 7. Duke - 0.5 Big Ten 1. Penn State - 127 2. Iowa - 115.5 3. Ohio State - 98 4. Michigan - 86 5. Nebraska - 83 6. Illinois - 77.5 7. Minnesota - 70 8. Rutgers - 66.5 9. Purdue - 37 10. Northwestern - 26.5 11. Maryland - 26 12. Indiana - 22.5 13. Wisconsin - 18 14. Michigan State - 6.5 Big 12 1. Oklahoma State - 113 2. Northern Iowa - 112 3. Missouri - 98.5 4. Iowa State - 89 5. South Dakota State - 78.5 6. Oklahoma - 74 7. West Virginia - 73.5 8. Arizona State - 62 9. Northern Colorado - 62 10. Wyoming - 49 11. Cal Baptist - 17 12. Utah Valley - 17 13. North Dakota State - 4.5 14. Air Force - 0 EIWA 1. Lehigh - 151.5 2. Army - 127 3. Navy - 104.5 4. Bucknell - 95 5. Drexel - 85.5 6. Binghamton - 69 7. American - 64.5 8. LIU - 58.5 9. Hofstra - 54.5 10. Sacred Heart - 16 11. Morgan State - 12.5 12. Franklin & Marshall - 11.5 Ivy 1. Cornell - 93 2. Penn - 56.5 3. Columbia - 56 4. Princeton - 42.5 5. Brown - 32.5 6. Harvard - 19.5 MAC 1. Central Michigan - 111.5 2. Ohio - 109 3. Lock Haven - 104.5 4. Rider - 90.5 5. George Mason - 86 6. Northern Illinois - 77 7. SIU Edwardsville - 70 8. Clarion - 61.5 9. Cleveland State - 48 10. Edinboro - 42.5 11. Kent State - 33.5 12. Buffalo - 31 13. Bloomsburg - 10 PAC 12 1. Little Rock - 92 2. Cal Poly - 65 3. Oregon State - 58 4. CSU Bakersfield - 35 SoCon 1. Campbell - 83 2. Appalachian State - 70.5 3. Chattanooga - 54.5 4. The Citadel - 41 5. Bellarmine - 25 6. Gardner-Webb - 21.5 7. Davidson - 15.5 8. Presbyterian - 7 9. VMI - 7

Did Bryan Pearsall take another job or is he staying on staff? Noticed he and Valenti have the same title it appears.

My hope would be that it creates a little more parity and more access to NCAA Tournament for individuals from those schools since they would get allocations and wouldn't have to go through numerous rounds of wrestlebacks against the Power Five schools. I would also hope its gives those schools a chance to compete for a conference championship and keep them relevant in their athletic departments in a time where wrestling is on the chopping block. Maybe that doesn't matter to ADs and Presidents but right now I can't see a scenario where a non-power five team competes for a conference title. This is just one year but as good as South Dakota State was they were 30 points behind Iowa State in the 12 team Big 12. Northern Iowa was 50 back. Oregon State was around 20 points back in a six team conference and they probably are not going to have as much TV revenue coming in going forward depending on where they end up.

Does anybody know what is the plan for the remaining PAC-12 schools for this coming year? I believe the conferences will be as follows and you need at least six schools to earn allocations to the NCAA Tournament. I also don't know if Morgan State has found a conference home. ACC - Adds Stanford (7 schools) Duke, NC State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Virginia, Virginia Tech Big 12 - Adds Arizona State (14 schools) Air Force, Arizona State, Cal Baptist, Iowa State, Missouri, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, West Virginia, Wyoming Big 10 - remains same (14 schools) Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin EIWA - splits with Ivy (11 schools) American, Army, Binghamton, Bucknell, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall, Hofstra, Lehigh, LIU, Navy, Sacred Heart Ivy - New conference (6 schools) Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn, Princeton MAC - stays same (13 schools) Bloomsburg, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Clarion, Cleveland State, Edinboro, George Mason, Kent State, Lock Haven, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Rider, SIU-Edwardsville SoCon - Bellarmine is now eligible I believe (9 schools) Appalachian State, Bellarmine, Campbell, Chattanooga, Davidson, Gardner Webb, Presbyterian, The Citadel, VMI Unknown Schools to me - 5 Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Little Rock, Oregon State, Morgan State As a personal preference, I think Morgan State to the MAC makes sense even though they want EIWA. I would also love for parity and competive balance out west to see the PAC 12 & Big 12 schools divide into Power 5 and non-power 5 conference. Power 5: Arizona State, Iowa State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, West Virginia Non-Power Five: Air Force, Cal Baptist, Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield, Little Rock, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, Oregon State, South Dakota State, Utah Valley, Wyoming

That obviously helped but essentially he and Davis canceled each other out since as a #9 seed Starocci was "expected" to lose in the round of 12 where Davis did.

I also should have added All-Americans Projected (Top 8 seeds vs. Actual) by conference ACC: 8 - 11 = (-3) Big 12: 20-21 = (-1) Big Ten: 30-27 = (+3) EIWA: 9-11 = (-2) MAC: 3-1 = (+2) PAC 12: 9-8 = (+1) SoCon: 1-1 = (-)

Just looking at some stats from the team scores that I found interesting. 2024 Penn State vs. 1997 Iowa For those wondering about the 3 pt. takedown and 4 point near fall and how that affected bonus points. Penn State gained 11 extra team points via bonus that they would not have received had it not been for a combination of the above scoring changes since 1997 although you could argue some of their tech falls might have still come as some came like 5 minutes into the match. They had 8 total tech falls so that accounts for 4 of those points (tech falls going to major decisions = -0.5 team points) Team Over-performers and under-performers - looking at how teams were projected to score based strictly on seeds (advancement and placement points) and how many placement and advancement points they actually scored (no bonus) Over-Performers 1. Ohio State (+16.5) 2. Michigan (+16) 3. Stanford (+15) 4. Little Rock (+10) 4. Lock Haven (+10) 6. Virginia Tech (+9) 7. Oklahoma (+8.5) 8. Penn State (+7) 9. Navy (6.5) 9. Arizona State (6.5) Over-Performers / Number of Qualifers 1. Lock Haven (3.33) 2. Stanford (3.00) 3. Little Rock (2.00) 4. Ohio State (1.83) 5. Michigan (1.78) 6. Oklahoma (1.70) 7. Navy (1.30) 8. VMI (1.00) 8. West Virginia (1.00) 10. Virginia Tech (0.90) Under-Performers 1. NC State (-46.5) 2. Lehigh (-27) 3. Purdue (-12) 4. Northern Iowa (-10) 5. Harvard (-8.5) 6. Binghamton (-8) 7. Illinois (-7.5) 8. Oklahoma State (-6.5) 9. Cal Poly (-5.5) 10. Air Force (-5) Under-Performers / Qualifiers 1. NC State (-4.65) 2. Lehigh (3.38) 3. Harvard (-2.83) 4. Illinois (-2.50) 5. Purdue (-2.40) 6. Binghamton (-2.00) 7. Air Force (-1.67) 8. Northern Iowa (-1.43) 9. Cal Poly (-1.00) 9. Brown (-1.00) 9. The Citadel (-1.00) Bonus Points - Which teams scored the most? Total Bonus Points 1. Penn State - 34 2. Cornell - 19.5 3. Iowa State - 17 4. Iowa - 15 5. NC State - 13.5 6. Northern Iowa - 12 6. Nebraska - 12 6. West Virginia - 12 9. Missouri - 10. 5 10. South Dakota State, Michigan, Ohio State - 9.5 Bonus Points per qualifier 1. Penn State - 3.40 2. North Dakota State - 2.50 3. West Virginia - 2.40 4. Cornell - 2.17 5. Air Force - 2.00 6. Iowa State - 1.89 7. Northern Iowa - 1.71 8. Iowa - 1.67 8. Ohio - 1.67 10. Wisconsin - 1.60 Conference Stats - I wanted to look at this as a whole since there was a lot of debate about how conference place changed seeding Overperformance or Under-performance - Actual points vs. projected points just looking at placement and advancement (no bonus) Total Performance 1. Pac 12 (+27) 2. Big Ten (+26) 3. MAC (+16.5) 4. SoCon (+2.5) 5. Big 12 (-4) 6. EIWA (-31.5) 7. ACC (-36.5) Total Performance / Number of qualifiers 1. Pac 12 (+0.90) 2. MAC (+0.66) 3. Big Ten (+0.27) 4. SoCon (+0.15) 5. Big 12 (-0.06) 6. EIWA (-0.52) 7. ACC (-1.01) Conference Bonus Points 1. Big Ten (106.5) 2. Big 12 (81.5) 3. EIWA (41) 4. ACC (34.5) 5. Pac 12 (23) 6. MAC (12.5) 7. SoCon (4) Conference Bonus Points per qualifier 1. Big 12 (1.25) 2. Big Ten (1.11) 3. ACC (0.96) 4. Pac 12 (0.77) 5. EIWA (0.67) 6. MAC (0.50) 7. SoCon (0.24)

I will add my own question. I hope this doesn't come off as mean towards the USA coaches but I am generally curious. What kind of coaching do they actually do and what are their actual duties? Do guys go out to Colorado more than I realize? It seems like all the wrestlers training for the Olympics are doing so at their RTCs and when they go to international events I see their "College" coaches in their corner. I don't know this for a fact but since Esposito got back into college coaching so quickly, to me it adds to the speculation that Coleman Scott is going to eventually be the head coach at Oklahoma State it is just a matter of when and that Esposito was probably told that he was not going to be the head coach. But I could be reading too much into this.

I know you are just copying this but I am curious to know how the wrestling committee can begin selections (at-large bids) before the coaches ranking portal closes.

Pitzer wasn't eligible to be ranked since he hadn't wrestled since January 21. The ACC records only include results against those who are also competing at the postseason in the same weight so Trephen was 4-0 in conference duals but it is interesting that he only hit 1 other starter. Virginia Tech sent out Jim Mullen against him and Trephen won 4-1.