For the first time in college wrestling history, the Big Ten Conference has 12 of its 14 teams ranked with Illinois and Michigan State entering this week’s NWCA Division 1 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.
The Big Ten has five teams ranked in the top seven, led by Iowa (0-0) at number one, Penn State (0-0) at number two and Michigan (2-0) at number three.
Nebraska is ranked sixth this week, Ohio State seventh, Minnesota 14th, Rutgers 15th, Purdue is 16th, Wisconsin is 21st, Northwestern is 22nd, Illinois is 24th and Michigan State 25th.