Big Ten has 12 teams ranked for first time in NWCA Div. I Coaches Poll history

Manheim, Pennsylvania – Realignment in college sports has caused some interesting anomalies when it comes to conference names. Two of the most obvious examples are the Big Ten Conference, with 14 all-sports members and the Big 12, which has 10. Wrestling alignments have expanded and contracted conference sponsorship with the abundance of affiliate members as well.

For the first time in college wrestling history, the Big Ten Conference also has 12 of its 14 teams ranked as Illinois and Michigan State entered this week’s NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll released on Tuesday.

Previously, the conference had 11 teams ranked on 17 different occasions, all since 2014 with the first occurrence happening on December 16, 2014. Not surprisingly, the Big Ten also five teams ranked in the top seven, including No. 1 Iowa (0-0), No. 2 Penn State (0-0) and No. 3 Michigan (2-0).

Here’s how the Big Ten schools populate almost half of the Top 25: No. 6 Nebraska, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 14 Minnesota, No. 15 Rutgers, No. 16 Purdue, No. 21 Wisconsin, No. 22 Northwestern, No. 24 Illinois, No. 25 Michigan State.

More ranked teams hit the mat this past week as 17 of the Top 25 were in action. Michigan opened up with road wins at Rutgers (26-10) and Maryland (38-3). No. 4 NC State improved to 2-0 besting Appalachian State 24-12. Nebraska opened up its Big Ten schedule beating visiting Minnesota 22-14. Oklahoma State picked up home wins over Chattanooga (32-9) and Oregon State (29-8), while Virginia Tech swept a quad, beating Kent State 32-9, Ohio 39-3 and the host Mountaineers 24-10. Missouri (5-0) hosted a tri-meet and topped then-No. 21 Central Michigan 30-6 and Wyoming 29-3. Wyoming also beat CMU in Columbia.

Other ranked teams picking up wins were Arizona State over Oklahoma (20-12), Pittsburgh over Lehigh (24-9), North Carolina over Gardner-Webb (44-0) and Northern Iowa with a pair of wins over South Dakota State (28-13) and North Dakota State (27-11). Northern Colorado, which appeared in the rankings last week for the first time since prior to the Apollo 11 moon landing, went 2-0, beating California Baptist 35-3 and host Utah Valley 19-16.

Methodology: The NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll is voted on by two coaches from each Division I wrestling conference. Each first-place vote is worth 25 points, 24 points for a second-place vote, 23 for a third-place vote and so on through to one point for a 25th-place vote. The poll is based on dual meet results. Teams who are not competing this season are not included in the voting process.

NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll
January 12, 2021
 

Rank	Team (First)	Record	Points	Conf.	Previous
1	Iowa (14)	(0-0)	350	Big Ten	1
2	Penn State	(0-0)	329	Big Ten	2
3	Michigan	(2-0)	323	Big Ten	3
4	NC State	(2-0)	302	ACC	4
5	Oklahoma State	(2-0)	287	Big 12	6
6	Nebraska	(1-0)	286	Big Ten	5
7	Ohio State	(0-0)	258	Big Ten	7
8	Virginia Tech	(4-0)	252	ACC	8
9	Missouri	(5-0)	246	MAC	9
10	Iowa State	(3-0)	217	Big 12	10
11	Arizona State	(2-0)	201	Pac-12	11
12	Pittsburgh	(2-0)	190	ACC	13
13	North Carolina	(1-0)	178	ACC	14
14	Minnesota	(0-1)	168	Big Ten	12
15	Rutgers	(0-1)	124	Big Ten	15
16	Purdue	(0-0)	123	Big Ten	16
17	Stanford	(0-0)	100	Pac-12	18
18	Lehigh	(0-1)	97	EIWA	17
19	Oklahoma	(0-1)	89	Big 12	19
20	Northern Iowa	(2-0)	88	Big 12	23
21	Wisconsin	(0-0)	77	Big Ten	20
22	Northwestern	(0-0)	61	Big Ten	22
23	Northern Colorado	(3-0)	46	Big 12	25
24	Illinois	(1-0)	35	Big Ten	NR
25	Michigan State	(0-0)	31	Big Ten	NR

Others Receiving Votes: Army West Point 27, Central Michigan 19, Virginia 19, Appalachian State 11, Wyoming 10, Hofstra 4, Campbell 2
Dropped Out: #21 Central Michigan (1-2), #24 Army West Point (0-0)

2020-21 Poll Dates: January 19, January 26, February 2, February 9, February 16, February 23.