It's the most wonderful time of the year, the week of the NCAA Championships! You can check out all 10 glorious brackets here on FloArena. When you're done perusing the 33-man fields, continue scrolling to reveal our breakdown of the middle three weight classes as we continue our preview of the 2018 NCAA Championships.

NCAA Draw Analysis: Penn State | Ohio State | Missouri | Michigan | NC State | Iowa

149 Pounds

Last year's Hodge Trophy winner Zain Retherford returns as the prohibitive favorite. The Zain Train has been rolling along, undefeated since the 2014 NCAA tournament. Retherford's closest competition the last three years has been Brandon Sorensen. Unfortunately for the Hawkeye senior, Brandon is 0-6 lifetime against Zain.

But as Retherford has separated himself from Sorensen, Sorensen has separated himself from the rest of the 149 pound field, losing only three times in the last three years to opponents not named Zain Retherford. After those two, however, the weight class become more interesting. 

Spey’s Spredictions

1st: Zain Retherford (Penn State)

2nd: Brandon Sorensen (Iowa)

3rd: Grant Leeth (Missouri)

4th: Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)

5th: Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State)

6th: Troy Heilmann (North Carolina)

7th: Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa)

8th: Justin Oliver (Central Michigan)

R12: Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State)

R12: Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State)

R12: Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech)

R12: Matt Kolodzik (Princeton)

Bracket Breakdown

I've got Zain over Sorensen in the finals, as  both seniors finish their legendary careers in Cleveland. I see mostly chalk in the championship side of the bracket, except for a minor upset of All-American Matt Kolodzik, the #11 seed, over #6 seed Justin Oliver on Thursday night. Oliver's two uncharacteristic losses in the MAC Championships has me worried about his podium chances. 

However, I still have Oliver winning in the bloodround to snag an All-American honor, but I would not be surprised in the slightest if Boo Lewallen wins, should that be how the bracket pans out. In the other round of 12 matches, I like Max Thomsen to squeak by Matt Kolodzik, Ryan Deakin to cruise by Ryan Blees, and, in one of the most difficult picks to make, Ke-Shawn Hayes to stop 2014 NCAA champ Jason Tsirtsis. 

I'm betting also on banking on Grant Leeth to harness the power of his neck brace to beat junior world silver medalists Ryan Deakin in the third place match, but that's close to a toss up match in my opinion. 

Darkhorses

Jared Prince (Navy)

Dane Robbins (Air Force) 

Jarrett Degan (Iowa State)

Jared Prince was a round of 16 finisher last year as a freshman at 141 pounds. He's been in and out and then back in the Midshipmen lineup this year at 149 pounds. Prince showed he has the ability to make some noise in this bracket with his strong third place finish at the EIWAs. 

At a service academy a littler further west of Annapolis, Dane Robbins has proven to be a dangerous opponent with wins this season over the #15 seed Ronnie Perry and the #9 seed Archie Colgan. And finally, Jarrett Degan is the lone Cyclone at the 2018 tournament in a rebuilding year for first year head coach Kevin Dresser. If Iowa State is going to score any points at this year's NCAAs it's going to be Degan that earns them. 

Watch Zain do Zain things against Ke-Shawn Hayes in the Big Ten finals:

157 Pounds

The biggest storyline of this weight class started on January 28, when Jason Nolf injury defaulted in his match against John Van Brill after hurting his knee in a wild scramble. Nolf wrestled two matches at Big Tens winning, via pinfall and by a 15-2 major decision before pulling out of the tournament to default to sixth. If Nolf's fully healed, or at least close to it, by this weekend, he will be the heavy favorite. If Nolf's knee keeps him from repeating as NCAA champ, the door is wide open for quite a few contenders. 

Spey’s Spredictions

1st: Jason Nolf (Penn State)

2nd: Hayden Hidlay (North Carolina State)

3rd: Joey Lavallee (Missouri)

4th: Alec Pantaleo (Michigan)

5th: Micah Jordan (Ohio State)

6th: Josh Shields (Arizona State)

7th: Michael Kemerer (Iowa)

8th: Archie Colgan (Wyoming)

R12: Markus Scheidel (Columbia)

R12: Clay Ream (North Dakota State)

R12: Mitch Finesilver (Duke)

R12: Tyler Berger (Nebraska)

Bracket Breakdown

I'm operating under the assumption that Nolf will be ready to go and up to par, which for Jason Nolf means winning a national championship. For Nolf's finals opponent, I like super stud redshirt freshman Hayden Hidlay to stay undefeated up until that match from the #1 seed. 

In the round of 15, I think Archie Colgan continues the hot streak he's on after winning the Big 12s and notches a minor upset over the #8 seed Tyler Berger, who's been more inconsistent this year than he has in the past. 

In the quarters, the only upset I'm predicting is Big Ten champ Alec Pantaleo avenging a CKLV loss to Pac-12 champ Josh Sheilds in one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the bracket, at least in my eyes. 

Colgan is the only seed outside the top eight I have making the podium. Berger, meanwhile, is the only top eight seed not on the podium I think Michael Kemerer stops his AA quest in the bloodround. In the third place match I have last year's finalist Joey Lavallee taking out Alec Pantaleo, but there are any number of different placements from the top 9 seeds that I think our plausible. And all of these predictions hinge Nolf, and Kemerer for that matter, being healthy enough to compete at their usual levels. 

Darkhorses

Kennedy Monday (North Carolina) - Beat Tyler Berger and Solomon Chishko

Coleman Hammond (CSU-Bakersfield) - Beat 11 Clay Ream 

Joe Velliquette (Penn) - Shameless plug for our summer intern.

Kennedy Monday has wins over the #8 seed Tyler Berger and two-time All-American Solomon Chishko (who, it should be noted, wasn't in the Virginia Tech line up at ACCs this year), and could make some noise if he goes off on a hot streak in Cleveland. 

Coleman Hammond has a win over #11 seed Clay Ream, and though I don't see him getting passed Michael Kemerer in the first round, he could certainly cause problems in the consolations. Finally, obligatory to shouts to Flo summer intern Joe Velliquette, who looked as good as he has all season a couple weeks ago when he 'stole' an NCAA bid with a fifth place finish at EIWAs.

Watch Hayden Hidlay take out NCAA finalist Joey Lavallee at the 2017 Reno Tournament of Champions:

165 Pounds

Where to begin? This weight class has been, in my so-called professional opinion, the best in the NCAA all year long. The top two seeds enter the tournament undefeated, but the elite talent level goes at least 12 deep at 165. New faces to the bracket this year include #10 seed Evan Wick, #5 seed Alex Marinelli, and the #2 seed David McFadden, who were all on redshirts last season, and also Richie Lewis, the #6 seed, was down at 157 pounds last season. 

I can't remember I time I've been more pumped for Thursday night's round of 16 matches.

Spey’s Spredictions

1st: Isaiah Martinez (Illinois)

2nd: Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State)

3rd: David McFadden (Virginia Tech)

4th: Richie Lewis (Rutgers)

5th: Logan Massa (Michigan)

6th: Alex Marinelli (Iowa)

7th: Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State)

8th: Evan Wick (Wisconsin)

R12: Chad Walsh (Rider)

R12: Isaiah White (Nebraska)

R12: Nick Wanzek (Minnesota)

R12: Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven)

Bracket Breakdowns

I've got all the seeded wrestlers winning their first round matches. The only upset I'm calling for in the electric round of 16 matchups is Evan Wick taking out the #7 seed Logan Massa in a repeat of the Big Ten consolation semifinals.

In the quarterfinals, one of the most intriguing matchups is EWL champ #4 Chad Walsh and #5 Alex Marinelli. Walsh has just one loss on the year, to Chance Marsteller, which he avenged in the EWL finals. Marinelli, on the other hand, came in to the Big Ten tournament undefeated but took three losses in East Lansing. I think Marinelli gets back on track and makes the semis, but it's no sure thing. 

Then in the semis, which should be stupendous no matter who makes it to penultimate championship round, I have Isaiah Martinez and Vincenzo Joseph returning to the finals for the second straight year. I've got IMar over Cenzo, reversing last year's NCAA finals but replaying the Big Ten finals of a couple weeks ago. 

But even if I'm wrong about all that, we still all win, as there's almost no combination of matchup that won't be thoroughly entertaining for the fans. 

The consolations should be all sorts of craziness, and I can it playing out many different ways. I've got Wick making it passed Nick Wanzek in the bloodround to outplace his seed and two-time All-American Chad Walsh getting denied by Logan Massa in one of the toughest matches to predict. But stay woke on the consolation round of 16, as plenty of top caliber wrestlers will be fighting for survival. 

Darkhorses

Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley)

Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton)

Romero transfered from Boise State after then BSU president Bob Kusta shamefully and deceitfully shut down the program in order to make room for his pet project of a varsity baseball team. The sophomore has been ranked in the top 20 for most of the year and could make some noise for the Utah Valley Wolverines. 

Senior Jonathan Schleifer has also spent a good amount of time in the top 20 this season, and though I don't see him winning his first round match against Vincenzo Joseph, a deep run in the wrestlebacks is not out of the question.

Watch Walsh and Marsteller wrestle for the second time this year in the EWL finals: