Most people watch college football on New Year's Day. But wrestling fans know where the real action will be on Tuesday morning: Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Watch the 2019 Southern Scuffle Live on Flo

Jan. 1-2 | 10 a.m. ET

Now in its 16th year, and eighth time being hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Southern Scuffle is one of the premier events in college wrestling. We're looking at approximately 50 ranked athletes, not to mention several highly touted redshirts.

As we regularly do with major tournaments like this, the previews are being separated into light, middle and upperweights. Today we're covering 184, 197 and 285 pounds. Let's see who the studs are, who could cause some ruckus and let's make some predictions. Entries can be found here and brackets will eventually be on FloArena.

Southern Scuffle Previews: Lightweight | Middleweight

184 Pounds

Contenders

#7 Shakur Rasheed (Penn State), RSSR: 8-0

#9 Louie DePrez (Binghamton), RSFR: 9-3 

In The Mix

#15 Sammy Colbray (Iowa State), JR: 9-2

Chris Weiler (Lehigh), RSSR: 7-4

Dark Horses

Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech), RSFR: 7-0

Michale Fagg-Daves (Rider), RSSR: 7-5

Alan Clothier (App State), SO: 7-8

Joel Shapiro (Iowa State), FR: 10-2

Commentary: There are two wrestlers who have been especially frustrating for wrestling fans this season: Roman Bravo-Young and Shakur Rasheed. Not because of their performance on the mat, but because they haven't ascended in the rankings to the where Penn State fans approximate their skill level to be.

Luckily for them, we have Brackastrology to project a little deeper into the season, where we have predicted Rasheed to head into NCAAs as the two seed. Should he do what we expect this weekend and run through the Scuffle, that won't change. Since getting seventh last year in Cleveland up at 197, all he's done is pick up bonus in all eight of his matches this season, and spending less than a period's worth of time doing. He's finishing matches in an average of two minutes and 46.75 seconds.

So who's going to have to deal with that cradle in the finals? Probably Louie DePrez, the redshirt freshman from Binghamton. He came out of high school highly regarded and made the junior world team this summer, so all he's done is set up high expectations for the next four years of his college life. DePrez is extremely strong and stingy and is very tough on top, so he can potentially present some matchup problems for Rasheed.

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The final ranked wrestler in this bracket will be Sammy Colbray of Iowa State. Colbray's biggest wins so far are over Cash Wilcke and Canten Marriott. There is a theme of weight change for this field, with Rasheed, Chris Weiler, Hunter Bolen and Colbray all wrestling up or down last season. 

Weiler came out of Wyoming Seminary projected to be a 184, which is where he spent his redshirt year. But with Jordan Kutler and Ryan Preisch moving up, Weiler wound up at 197, where he qualified for NCAAs. However, it appears Jake Jakobsen is now the Mountain Hawks' 197, and Weiler will go 184 if Preisch gets hurt again. Weiler was down at 184 last weekend for the Wilkes Open.

Three other NCAA qualifiers will be wrestling here in Bolen, Fagg-Daves and Clothier. Although Zack Zavatsky will not be competing, Bolen is wrestling unattached because he is redshirting this year. He is undefeated so far, having won both the Wolfpack and Hokie Opens, beating All-American Chip Ness in the latter.

Rider as a whole could sneak up one some people in the team standings. Fagg-Daves is one of several guys who might wind up on the podium for them. Clothier could kick-start his season back in the right direction with a good performance here.

As he was coming out of high school, I was very high on Joel Shapiro as a prospect. He was a solid pickup for Iowa State who didn't lose a match his last two years at West Des Moines Valley. A Fargo runner-up this past summer, I expect him to win some takedown battles and place high thanks to his high-level leg attacks.

Nomad's Picks

1) Rasheed, Penn State   2) DePrez, Binghamton   3) Weiler, Lehigh   4) Bolen, Virginia Tech

197 Pounds

Contenders

#1 Bo Nickal (Penn State), RSSSR: 7-0

In The Mix

#5 Willie Miklus (Iowa State), RSSR: 9-1

#7 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State), 13-0

Dark Horses

#9 Nathan Traxler (Stanford), RSSO: 12-3

#14 Stephen Loiseau (Drexel), RSSR: 12-4

#16 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech), RSSR: 6-3

#17 Randall Diabe (App State), SR: 12-3

#19 Jacob Seely (Northern Colorado), RSJR: 5-1

#20 Anthony McLaughlin (Air Force), SR: 7-0

Commentary: I said it in the 157 preview, and I'm going to say it again: Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf are 1A and 1B right now in the Hodge race. They're the two most overwhelming favorites to win their weights here and at Big Tens and at the national tournament in Pittsburgh.

But at least this field will provide a good challenge with eight other ranked guys, including a multiple time All-American in Willie Miklus and an intriguing newcomer in Dakota Geer. Miklus took a strange loss to Jacob Warner, and there will always be questions about whether his body can hold up, but he's the second-best guy in the weight.

The plan was for Dakota Geer to move up to 197 eventually, but it wasn't supposed to be until next season. Preston Weigel's injury sped that up a bit and given what Geer was weighing, it seems unlikely we'll see Weigel again anytime soon. But Geer was a blue chip in high school who has the length and frame to put on weight, or at least be comfortable against other full sized 197s. He's also got the activity level to frustrate a ton of them.

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Nathan Traxler is one of those young 197s who benefitted from an exodus last year and is now highly ranked. He lost in the second round at CKLV only to win five in a row and make the third-place match. Which is a microcosm of this weight as a whole so far: no consistent results but tons of potential.

We're lucky to get two tournaments worth of Stephen Loiseau tape between CKLV and Scuffle, plus he'll be at EIWAs live on Flo! He's one of the more fun and adventurous scramblers at this weight, although it can of course get him in trouble sometimes.

Meanwhile Tom Sleigh is a grinder who is clearly a good one-year pickup for the Hokies while they figure out their long-term plan at 197. Diabe had an inauspicious start to the season getting pinned in the first period by a true freshman from a lower division at Journeymen, as well as another true freshman at the Hokie Open, but since then has looked totally different.

Jacob Seely is still rounding into form after surgery this summer. McLaughlin is maybe the most improbable wrestler to make it through December undefeated. Sawyer Root and Andrew Marsden should also provide the fans entertainment as long as they're in the tournament.

Nomad's Picks

1) Nickal, Penn State   2) Miklus, Iowa State   3) Geer, Oklahoma State   4) Traxler, Stanford

285 Pounds

Contenders

#3 Anthony Cassar (Penn State), RSJR: 7-0

#5 Derek White (Oklahoma State), RSSR: 9-1

Nick Nevills (Penn State), RSSR: 3-1

In The Mix

#8 Billy Miller (Edinboro), RSSR: 2-0

#14 Matt Voss (George Mason), RSSR: 16-2

#19 Thomas Haines (Lock Haven), RSSR: 9-2

#20 Joey Goodhart (Drexel), RSSR: 14-4

Dark Horses

Colin Lawler (NC State), FR: 12-2

Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State), RSSO: 11-4

Cary Miller (App State), RSJR: 10-8

Haydn Maley (Stanford), RSFR: 10-6

Commentary: I'm all in on Cassar as a finalist. He's way too athletic, can shoot and finish on basically everyone and can hold people down on top. The Jersey native is now a full-sized (or at least big enough) heavyweight and is on the team that basically always gets guys to overperform at NCAAs.

It's been a while since I had to include the ole Cowboy Bulk Job in a preview. Aside from a justifiable loss to Gable Steveson, White has otherwise very much looked the part of a top-five heavyweight. He's only wrestled Nick Nevills once, a 10-5 loss in the dual at the end of the 2017 season.

Nevills is the best backup in the country right now. He's the only AA in this field, but has only competed at the Keystone Classic so far. With the news coming out that Penn State is seeking a sixth year of eligibility for Anthony Cassar, there's an outside chance they let Nevills have the starting spot. But that seems like a long shot, so Nittany Lion fans should enjoy one last look at the California native.

Billy Miller is finally healthy, which should give the Hokies' lineup a nice boost. He'll be making his final appearance at the Scuffle, where last time he went 5-2 as a sophomore to finish seventh. The three-time NCAA qualifier is just a notch below that first tier, but should otherwise take care of business against everyone else. His backup John Borst is also wrestling.

Matt Voss has already beaten Thomas Haines this season, and NC State freshman Colin Lawler has a win over Voss. Haines beat Goodhart here 6-0 last year, which resulted in Haines getting sixth and Goodhart finishing seventh. Along with Nevills they are the only returning placers.

Cary Miller should be the SoCon's NCAA representative at 285, and Haydn Maley might find his way in for Stanford. Gremmel was the Junior U.S. Open Champ back in April.

Nomad's Picks

1) Cassar, Penn State   2) Nevills, Penn State   3) White, Oklahoma State   4) Miller, Virginia Tech