The upcoming NCAA season may only seem like a distant ship's smoke on the horizon during these long summer days, but that doesn't mean it's too early to start speculating about the 2017-18 season. But to start speculating, we'll need some information first. Just the basic facts.

To get a better idea of what we might see next season, we took a look back at the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championships. We compared all the Division I programs by how many team points were earned by their underclassmen to see who will be returning the most firepower for the 2018 tournament.

Teams 11-20 | No. 10 Virginia Tech | No. 9 Lehigh | No. 8 Iowa | No. 7 Minnesota | No. 6 Arizona State

No. 5 Missouri Tigers: 46.5

Missouri head coach Brian Smith lost not just one of the greatest wrestlers in school history but also in NCAA history, as senior J'den Cox finished his Tigers career as a three-time national champion without the benefit of a redshirt season. The black and gold will also have to contend without the services of three-time All-American Lavion Mayes.

But don't expect the Tigers to be just lost souls swimming in a fish bowl this year. They return an exceptional nucleus, including three All-Americans from St. Louis, and hopefully a healthy Willie Miklus, an All-American in 2015 and 2016. 

WT	NAME	PTS
133	John Erneste	2.5
141	Jaydin Eierman	12
157	Joey Lavallee	20
165	Daniel Lewis	12

Redshirt freshman Jaydin Eierman had a breakout season at 141 pounds, earning fifth place in St. Louis and taking out a host of hammers throughout the season. One of those hammers was unfortunately fellow senior teammate and two-time NCAA qualifier Matt Manley, who was squeezed out of the lineup with Eierman at 141 and Lavion Mayes at 149. Another casualty of wrestling's inexorable meritocratic grind. 

NCAA finalists Joey Lavallee will be expected to provide senior leadership as he returns to 157. Daniel Lewis also has two All-American honors in two seasons and will bump up to 174 to make room for Conner Flynn at 165, creating one of those most dynamic middle weight trios in the NCAA.  

John Erneste returns after a round of 16 finish in March, and two-time qualifier Barlow McGee is back to make formidable lower weight battery. 

A mended Miklus at will likely be up at 197, taking over for the irreplaceable J'Den Cox. Miklus scored 12 points in 2016, so exceeding last year's team total of 86.5 points will be a lofty but not unattainable goal for the Tigers next season. 

A big part of achieving that goal will depend on if Lavallee can match his placement at the NCAAs. You can watch Lavallee punch his finals ticket over Cornell's Dylan Palacio in the video below. 



We'll take a closer at the No. 4 team next, so stay tuned. Until then, stay comfortable but not necessarily numb, as we you can expect to see plenty more NCAA content coming through in waves.