W.I.N.'s Jan. 3, 2007 Tournament Power Index (TPI)
For immediate release
By Bryan Van Kley, W.I.N. Magazine Publisher
W.I.N. Magazine is pleased to release its inaugural Tournament Power Index (TPI) for NCAA Division I wrestling. The new TPI will be released on a weekly basis ranking the college teams in NCAA Division I in regards to the NCAA Championships-point potential of the individuals each team has ranked. W.I.N. has historically released team rankings based only on potential NCAA tournament strength, not in-season dual-meet strength like many of the other national polls.
We have felt very strongly that tournament rankings were what the majority of readers and hard-core wrestling fans took the most interest in. This has worked well for many years, but the there is potential to creat inconsistencies this season and in the future as there is more parity in college wrestling. For example, in December, two top-ranked teams, Minnesota and then Iowa State, were beaten in back-to-back weeks on their home mats in duals. We chose to reward the teams that won those two particular duals by ranking them No. 1 in the next set of team rankings, despite having tournament team rankings. We felt in those two situations the winning teams needed to be rewarded for their wins by moving up in our poll.
However, the rankings committee does not always reward lower-ranked teams for upsetting higher-ranked opponents. If there was a noticeable difference between the two teams in terms of NCAA-placement potential and dual-meet strength, the teams would usually not flip-flop or move as much as they would in a dual-meet ranking format.
Because of this dynamic, we felt college wrestling would benefit if W.I.N. Magazine changed its normal team rankings to standard dual-meet rankings based on current performances. We will now release those dual rankings weekly, along with an updated Tournament Power Index. In our dual rankings, the committee will rank teams on how they would finish if the National Duals were held that week. Teams are rewarded for in-season momentum or for matching up well against other teams around them in our poll.
The TPI is then compiled by awarding points to each team for the ranked wrestlers they have in W.I.N.’s current individual rankings. For example, each top-ranked individual scores 20 points for his team (16 NCAA placement points plus four advancement points), No. 2 gets 16, No. 3 gets 13.5, etc. Teams are awarded points based on how many potential All-Americans they could have and get advancement points for wrestlers ranked No. 9-20. The order that the teams get put in based on their TPI will vary greatly from our dual meet rankings, as some teams have a number of highly-ranked individuals but may have holes in their dual meet line-up.
Fans or coaches who have questions or input on our current rankings process can e-mail W.I.N. editor Mike Finn at MikeF@WIN-magazine.com. If you wish to be included on weekly ranking release list, e-mail W.I.N. at Info@WIN-magazine.com.
Points totals associated with individual rankings are as followed: 1st - 20 (16 AA points + 4 advancement points); 2nd - 16 (12+4); 3rd - 13.5 (10+3.5); 4th - 12. 5 (9+3.5); 5th - 10 (7+3); 6th - 9 (6+3); 7th - 6.5 (4+2.5); 8th - 5.5 (3+2.5); 9th/12th - 2; 13th/16th - 1.5; 17th-20th - 1
| Rank | Team |
Top 8 Wrestlers
|
Total Points
|
| 1 | Minnesota |
6
|
91.5
|
| 2 | Michigan |
5
|
70.5
|
| 3 | Iowa |
4
|
65.5
|
| 4 | Oklahoma State |
4
|
58.5
|
| 5 | Northwestern |
4
|
57.5
|
| 6 | Iowa State |
5
|
53.5
|
| 7 | Missouri |
4
|
52.5
|
| 8 | Central Michigan |
4
|
48.5
|
| 9 | Nebraska |
3
|
45
|
| 9 | Ohio State |
3
|
45
|
| 11 | Penn State |
3
|
41.5
|
| 12 | Hofstra |
3
|
36.5
|
| 13 | Wisconsin |
4
|
36
|
| 14 | Cornell |
4
|
35.5
|
| 15 | Pittsburgh |
2
|
31.5
|
| 16 | Illinois |
1
|
29.5
|
| 17 | Harvard |
3
|
26.5
|
| 18 | American |
1
|
22
|
| 19 | Indiana |
1
|
21
|
| 20 | Navy |
2
|
20.5
|
| 20 | Oklahoma |
2
|
20.5
|
| 20 | West Virginia |
1
|
20.5
|
| 23 | Edinboro |
1
|
20
|
| 24 | Maryland |
1
|
16
|
| 25 | Michigan State |
1
|
12
|
| 26 | Cal Poly |
1
|
11.5
|
| 26 | Stanford |
1
|
11.5
|
| 28 | Northern Iowa |
1
|
10.5
|
| 29 | Arizona State |
1
|
10
|
| 30 | UT-Chattanooga |
0
|
8
|
| 31 | Penn |
1
|
7
|
| 32 | Boston University |
1
|
5.5
|
| 32 | Drexel |
1
|
5.5
|
| 34 | Bloomsburg |
0
|
5
|
| 34 | Boise State |
0
|
5
|
| 34 | North Carolina State |
0
|
5
|
| 34 | Old Dominion |
0
|
5
|
| 38 | Virginia |
0
|
4.5
|
| 39 | Cal State Fullerton |
0
|
3.5
|
| 40 | North Carolina-Greensboro |
0
|
3
|
| 40 | Northern Illinois |
0
|
3
|
| 40 | Rider |
0
|
3
|
| 43 | Kent State |
0
|
2.5
|
| 44 | Binghampton |
0
|
2
|
| 45 | Army |
0
|
1.5
|
| 45 | Northern Colorado |
0
|
1.5
|
| 45 | Purdue |
0
|
1.5
|
| 45 | Wyoming |
0
|
1.5
|
| 49 | Appalachian State |
0
|
1
|
| 49 | Cleveland State |
0
|
1
|
| 49 | Columbia |
0
|
1
|
| 49 | Lehigh |
0
|
1
|
| 49 | North Carolina |
0
|
1
|
| 49 | Virginia Tech |
0
|
1
|