NCAA Release | Coaches Poll | RPI Rankings

INDIANAPOLIS - Six Illini are ranked in the final coaches poll that was released by the NCAA office Friday afternoon. Redshirt sophomore Mike Carr leads the Illini with a No. 5 ranking at 141-pounds in the coaches poll. In addition to the coaches poll, the Illini have four wrestlers ranked in the RPI rankings, led by junior Travis Piotrowski who is ranked sixth at 125-pounds. Conference bid allocations for this month's NCAA Championships were also announced, with the Big Ten receiving 78 automatic qualifiers.

Of the six Illini ranked in the final coaches poll, three are ranked inside the top-10 of their respective weight classes. Following Carr in the top-10 are No. 7 Emery Parker at 184-pounds and No. 10 Eric Barone at 157-pounds. No. 12 Travis Piotrowski (125), No. 20 Joey Gunther (165) and No. 22 Dylan Duncan round out the six Illini. 

UI has four wrestlers ranked in the RPI, with Piotrowski leading the way ranking sixth at 125-pounds. Joining Piotrowski in the RPI rankings are Gunther at No. 14 at 165-pounds, Barone ranking No. 16 at 157-pounds and Duncan sitting at No. 18 at 133-pounds. Wrestlers are required to have competed in a minimum of 17 matches against Division-1 opponents to be eligible for the rankings.

The Big Ten leads the NCAA with 78 automatic qualifying spots for this year's NCAA Championships. The conference totals 25 more automatic bids than the second place Big 12 Conference. 

With at least five automatic bids at every weight class, the Big Ten received nine automatic bids at 125 pounds, 141 pounds, 157 pounds and 165 pounds. 

The number of wrestlers that determines how many automatic-qualifying spots each conference is awarded is based on meeting two of at least three measurements. Those parameters included Division I winning percentage at the weight class, ratings percentage index (RPI) and coaches ranking. 

Each wrestler that reached the required threshold for at least two of the three categories earns an automatic bid for the qualifying tournament.  Each conference was awarded a minimum of one automatic bid per weight class, which goes to the tournament champion. The remaining automatic bids will be determined by place-finish at each conference qualifying tournament. 

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet to select the remaining 44 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 12. Brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 5 p.m. CT on March 13.  All weight classes will feature 33 wrestlers. At-large selections will be made based on head-to-head competition, quality wins, coaches ranking, results against common opponents, RPI, qualifying event placement and winning percentage. 

The Big Ten Championships will be held next weekend, Saturday March 9 and Sunday March 10 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sessions I and II will take place on March 9, with Session I beginning at 10 a.m. CT and Session II starting at 6 p.m. CT. Both sessions can be streamed on BTN2Go. The final two sessions will be held on March 10, with Session III starting at 12 p.m. CT on BTN2Go, and the Championship Session beginning at 3 p.m. CT live on Big Ten Network. 

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