Conference weekend is over, and NCAA brackets come out in just a few days. But those brackets don't happen without seeds.

Before that happens, the complete field needs to be set for the national tournament. We've got our 282 auto qualifiers now, and most weights will be pretty straightforward to seed at the top. For those that aren't though, well, that's where I come in.

Outside of the people who actually do the seeding, I don't think there is anyone who has spent as much time as me studying the process. So I'm going to bless you all with my best hunches for the following weights: 133, 149, 165, and 184.

There are of course other major questions. How far does Jack Mueller fall after losing to Jakob Camacho in the ACC finals? Where do Max Murin and Dom Demas end up after performing below seed on conference weekend? What's Kaleb Young's seed look like after going 0-2 in Piscataway?

But let's dive into these four weights while we still have time.

133 Projected NCAA Seeds

1. Sebastian Rivera, Northwestern
2. Seth Gross, Wisconsin
3. Chas Tucker, Cornell
4. Roman Bravo-Young, Penn State
5. Micky Phillippi, Pittsburgh
6. Austin DeSanto, Iowa

When I put this out on twitter it caused more of a stir than I expected. The supposed Big Ten bias may apply more to the fans than to me. So I guess I need to explain.

Amended 133 seeds by the formula, my very educated guess

1) Seabass
2) Gross
3) Tucker
4) Phillippi
5) RBY
6) DeSanto

— The Wrestling Nomad (@wrestlingnomad) March 8, 2020

When the NCAA seeds the national tournament, a committee reviews the seeds after they are plugged into a matrix. Each wrestler is compared against each other in seven categories, each of which is weighted differently.

Those categories are as follows: head-to-head (25%), quality wins (20%), coaches ranking (15%), common opponents (10%), conference placement (10%), RPI (10%), and win percentage (10%). The one seed typically goes 32-0 against the field overall when you tally up each of those criteria.

It makes sense for fans to want the four Big Ten guys to be the top four seeds. Seth Gross has made the finals at his past two NCAA tournaments, winning in 2018. Sebastian Rivera beat Spencer Lee twice and was the one seed last year. Both DeSanto and RBY were All-Americans last year while Phillippi lost in the round of 12 and Chas Tucker went 1-2 in both his previous national tournaments.

There are only two guys with legit claims to be the top seed at 133: Rivera and Tucker. Let's run them through the matrix first. Note that the RPI for Rivera is a guess as he just earned it this weekend.

With Sebastian earning RPI this weekend, he'll finish ahead of Gross in RPI, coaches rank, and conference finish. Likewise, Gross comes out ahead of Tucker in quality wins, coaches rank, and RPI. Here is how Gross vs Tucker looks in the matrix.

This is where it gets interesting. Tucker went undefeated, won his conference, and defeated eight automatic qualifiers in the process, so his quality win points are high. He was ahead of Roman Bravo-Young in RPI before conference weekend, but even if that changes he'll win conference placement, quality wins, and win percentage over RBY. Phillippi falls in the same boat, though he too was higher in RPI prior to ACCs.

What helps RBY against Phillippi is the Alvarez win, but even then you're just switching the 4 and the 5, so they'd still meet in the quarters. With DeSanto getting fourth, he may fall behind Tucker in the coaches poll. If that happens, there's no way the matrix puts him ahead of the Cornell senior.

I would not be terribly surprised if Phillippi and RBY got switched (dependent on RPI) from my original tweet based on the committee saying, "Roman is higher in the coaches ranking, has a common opponent of Alavrez, and beat Phillippi last year in the bloodround."

Phillippi goes ahead of DeSanto based on quality wins, conference finish, and win percentage. The only question is if their RPI switches. Before conference weekend it was Phillippi two and DeSanto three.

149 Projected NCAA Seeds

1. Pat Lugo, Iowa
2. Sammy Sasso, Ohio State
3. Austin O'Connor, North Carolina
4. Brock Mauller, Missouri
5. Boo Lewallen, Oklahoma State
6. Matt Kolodzik, Princeton

The only thing I know for sure is that Iowa senior Pat Lugo will be the one seed after avenging a regular-season loss to Sammy Sasso. I think the coaches will keep Sasso ahead of O'Connor in their poll.

Looking at auto qualifiers, O'Connor has three wins over guys already in the field while Sasso has eight. Coaches rank will decide who gets the two seed, as that 30 point swing will override the RPI, which O'Connor was higher in entering conference weekend.

With Brayton Lee falling to Collin Purinton in the third-place bout at Big Tens, it should set up a pretty clean coaches rank situation: Mauller at the 4, Lewallen the 5, and Kolodizk the 6. Now let's examine Mauller vs O'Connor for the 3 spot.

The formula spits out Mauller ahead, and it is largely due to quality wins, which they are tied in before factoring in QW. So far ahead in fact that Mauller's win over Boo Lewallen would give the Tiger more quality win points than O'Connor by itself.

This is another one I am curious if the committee flips. O'Connor and Mauller have one loss each, with the Tar Heel's coming to the 1 seed while Mauller's was to a non-qualifier in Jaron Jensen, someone who O'Connor defeated Mauller's win percentage is better (26-1 vs 24-1) but is behind in the coaches poll and RPI. The RPI could be misleading though, as Mauller has defeated seven auto qualifiers to O'Connor's three.

Then there is the nebulous fact that the UNC freshman took out Mauller 4-3 in last year's consi semis, something that is not weighed in the formula. Between that, the coaches rank, and the common opponent of Jensen, I think the committee goes against the formula here.

Mauller, of course, finishes ahead of Lewallen because of the head-to-head, but we should run Boo against AOC just to be safe. O'Connor comes out ahead, so Lewallen will probably be your five seed.

Closing out with Kolodzik, I think he winds up getting ranked sixth by the coaches. He won't have an RPI, and his quality win points will be low, but he's undefeated and won his conference, not to mention Brayton's loss to Collin Purinton at Big Tens.

165 Projected NCAA Seeds

1. Alex Marinelli, Iowa
2. Vincenzo Joseph, Penn State
3. Shane Griffith, Stanford
4. Travis Wittlake, Oklahoma State
5. Isaiah White, Nebraska
6. Josh Shields, Arizona State

The Bull got one back from Cenzo at Big Tens and will be the one seed. As for Griffith and Joseph, the two seed comes down to RPI. However, even if the formula comes out with the Stanford freshman ahead, I would be shocked if they didn't make Cenzo the two. Here is how they look if Griffith finishes ahead in RPI (which I don't think he will).

But remember that Cenzo beat Griffith last year at Southern Scuffle. Again, I know that previous years don't factor into the formula, but there are humans involved, humans with discernment. To paraphrase Terry Brands, "Make the young kid earn it."

OK, those are pretty easy calls in my opinion. Now to some harder ones. Evan Wick med forfeiting out throws a huge monkey wrench into this, as does David McFadden losing to Jake Wentzel in the ACC finals.

Blue-chip Travis Wittlake is who I'm projecting as the four seed since he beats Isaiah White in the formula, carried heavily by his superior record, Big 12 title, and strong RPI. Wittlake also comes out ahead of Josh Shields even if he stays behind the Sun Devil in the coaches poll.

I also think, despite losing to him in the regular season, White finishes ahead of Evan Wick because the Badger will be hit in the coaches ranking.

184 Projected NCAA Seeds

1. Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech
2. Taylor Lujan, Northern Iowa
3. Aaron Brooks, Penn State
4. Louie DePrez, Binghamton
5. Trent Hidlay, NC State
6. Andrew Morgan, Campbell

Phew, we've got a fun seeding meeting on our hands. No Zahid Valencia means the weight is wide open and there's no bad side of the bracket now. Right at the top, I've got Hunter Bolen over Taylor Lujan despite Lujan being ranked higher by the coaches, because that had more to do with the timing of the Nino Bonaccorsi loss than anything else.

By my count, Bolen beat 11 auto qualifiers and Lujan defeated nine, so there's no question these two were battle-tested. They split at CKLV, with Lujan winning in the quarters and Bolen claiming the third-place bout. Bolen came out ahead in quality win points, and was ahead in RPI entering conference weekend. He also takes the common opponent category due to his wins over Trent Hidlay, who beat Lujan in the CKLV semis.

RPI could be flipped, but the most recent win, plus the Hidlay loss, should push Bolen to the top. Not to mention, the win percentage situation is one in which both guys have two losses but the Panther got a couple more matches. Also, even with the head-to-head loss, Lujan beats Hidlay in the matrix.

Lujan comes out ahead of Aaron Brooks in the matrix, as does Bolen, but how does the Nittany Lion fare against EIWA champ Louie DePrez? It comes down to RPI, which Brooks just earned this weekend. If he finishes ahead as I expect, it'll be Brooks in the three spot.

Lastly, people forget that Andrew Morgan beat Nino Bonaccorsi earlier this year. The SoCon conference champ grabs the six seed ahead of the Pitt sophomore.