INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee has announced the pre-allocation spots for the 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships as listed in the chart below.
Each qualifying tournament was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through February 19. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards while never going below the base of .700 winning percentage, top 30 coaches’ ranking, and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class.
For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his conference tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each conference was awarded a minimum of one automatic bid per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA championship spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at conference tournaments based solely on place-finish.
After all the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in person to select the remaining 46 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 7, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. on March 8. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
CONFERENCE | 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285 | TOTAL |
Atlantic Coast Conference | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 34 |
Big 12 Conference | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 64 |
Big Ten Conference | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 88 |
Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 45 |
Mid-American Conference | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
Pacific-12 Conference | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
Southern Conference | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
Pre-Allocations | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 28 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 284 |
At-Large | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 46 |
The coaches’ rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class, with two head coaches from each of the seven conferences. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered, with at least one within the last 30 days.
The RPI is a calculation that consists of three factors: winning percentage, opponent winning percentage (strength of schedule), and opponent’s opponent winning percentage (opponent’s strength of schedule). Only matches against Division I opponents at the designated weight class count towards the RPI, and a wrestler needs to have wrestled 15 matches to be ranked.
The coaches’ ranking and RPI are two of several criteria that will be evaluated during the at-large selection and seeding process, along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents, and win percentage.
Click or tap here to see a PDF of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Coaches Rank (through Feb. 19)
Click or tap here to see a PDF of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) (through Feb. 19)
A full description of the entire selection process for the 2023 Division I Wrestling Championships is available at ncaa.org.
The 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships take place March 16-18 at BOK Center in Tulsa as the event returns to Oklahoma for the first time since being held in Oklahoma City in 2014.