For top competitors, developing your skills against a bunch of other top guys is a plus. Having a tougher path to the starting lineup is a minus.

If you're a top football player, where there are a huge number of scholarships available, your choice might look like:

- go to Clemson, redshirt, then make the lineup as a r-Fr, r-So, or even r-Jr, win more
- go to VT, redshirt (or not), then make the lineup as a t-Fr or r-Fr, win less

Clemson might look appealing even if you'd be more likely to start sooner and play more at VT. Money doesn't matter much either way -- you're going to be on full scholarship. Cost of attendance might be a minor money difference. (I'll ignore other possible "benefits".)

If you do the same thing for wrestling, the money's not the same. Scholarships are often partial and likely weighted more toward starters. So there is a huge financial difference between "make the lineup as a r-Fr" vs. "make the lineup as a r-Jr".

If the math for wrestling were more like football, the Clemsons of the wrestling world (mostly B1G) probably benefit.

[Post edited by nvpbrown at 02/14/2020 2:21PM]