INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee announced the automatic qualification allocations for the 2024 conference championship tournaments on Thursday afternoon, giving the Big Ten Conference 85 of the 283 auto bids.
The Big Ten earned the most spots with at least seven at each weight, taking eight or more allocations in seven of the ten classes. At minimum, the conference will represent 25% of the field and that number could increase with 47 at-large spots to be determined by the NCAA's committee on March 12 following the conclusion of all conference tournaments. Brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8:00 p.m. ET on March 13.
Each qualifying conference was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through the February 26 cutoff. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards, win percentage, coaches' rank, and RPI ranking; 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.
The Boilermakers will have their chance to wrestle their way to Kansas City next weekend in College Park, Md., at the Big Ten Championships on March 9-10.
The final editions of the mid-season coaches' rankings and the RPI were released in conjunction with the allocations and saw five Boilermakers make the final lists.
Ramos is the first Purdue wrestler to enter the postseason as the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the rankings since the NCAA began releasing them in 2012. Blaze's No. 18 spot in the coaches poll and Clark's place at No. 20 in the RPI both represent the best marks for Purdue true freshmen heading into tourna
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. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one match 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.
The Big Ten earned the most spots with at least seven at each weight, taking eight or more allocations in seven of the ten classes. At minimum, the conference will represent 25% of the field and that number could increase with 47 at-large spots to be determined by the NCAA's committee on March 12 following the conclusion of all conference tournaments. Brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8:00 p.m. ET on March 13.
Each qualifying conference was awarded pre-allocations to the national tournament based on regular season performance by conference wrestlers through the February 26 cutoff. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale of the three standards, win percentage, coaches' rank, and RPI ranking; 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.
The Boilermakers will have their chance to wrestle their way to Kansas City next weekend in College Park, Md., at the Big Ten Championships on March 9-10.
| Conference | 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285 | Total |
| ACC | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 28 |
| Big 12 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 57 |
| Big Ten | 9 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 85 |
| EIWA | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 53 |
| MAC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 22 |
| Pac-12 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 24 |
| Southern | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Pre-Allocations | 27 | 28 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 283 |
| At-Large | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 47 |
The final editions of the mid-season coaches' rankings and the RPI were released in conjunction with the allocations and saw five Boilermakers make the final lists.
| Wt. | Wrestler | Record | NCAA Coaches | RPI |
| 125 | Matt Ramos (R-Jr.) | 23-4 | 1 | 3 |
| 141 | Greyson Clark (Fr.) | 13-5 | -- | 20 |
| 157 | Joey Blaze (Fr.) | 15-7 | 18 | 25 |
| 165 | Stoney Buell (R-So.) | 15-9 | 27 | 22 |
| 174 | Brody Baumann (R-Fr.) | 11-11 | -- | 28 |
Ramos is the first Purdue wrestler to enter the postseason as the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the rankings since the NCAA began releasing them in 2012. Blaze's No. 18 spot in the coaches poll and Clark's place at No. 20 in the RPI both represent the best marks for Purdue true freshmen heading into tourna
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. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one match 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.