The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will get underway on Thursday morning as 330 wrestlers will compete for the title of national champion. But today, some of the coaches clearly had other things on their minds.    "I do believe it's a good decision to go ahead with the NCAA Championships," stated Oklahoma State head coach John Smith, referring to last night's decision by the NCAA to not postpone the tournament. "It becomes very small when you compare it with what's going on over there."    Smith, along with coaches J Robinson of Minnesota, Jim Zalesky of Iowa, Greg Strobel of Lehigh and Rob Koll of Cornell addressed the media the day before the biggest college wrestling event of the year takes place in Kansas City, Mo. at Kemper Arena.    Smith's Cowboys are ranked No. 1 in the nation after posting a 17-0 dual record during the regular season.    Robinson, head coach at Minnesota, the two-time defending national champions, had his thoughts with many individuals in the armed services who are overseas awaiting a possible war with Iraq.    "I have a lot of empathy for the American soldiers because a lot of them are the same age as the guys that are about to complete here in this tournament," Robinson said.    Oklahoma State enters the tournament as the clear favorite to win the team national title for the first time since 2000. The Cowboys are looking to win their first national team title since 1994.    On the other hand, Minnesota enters the tournament as an underdog, even with a squad that is returning eight starters, including two NCAA champions. The Gophers were also considered underdogs in 2001, when the school captured its first-ever NCAA team title.    "We're coming into this, like we did a couple of years ago, not as the clear-cut favorite," Robinson said. "We have a core of guys that have been here before, so we have a confidence about us."    "We've earned that favorite title. At the beginning of the season, I am not sure we had that title. People were asking if anyone could catch Minnesota," Smith added.    Lehigh and Cornell are also expected to finish this tournament in the top 10 nationally, a great feat for the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) to be able to claim.    "For the first time we have qualified eight guys to this tournament. Our team is young. Only one of the eight guys have been here before," Strobel said.    Lehigh placed two wrestlers in the NCAA finals last year, with 184-pound Rob Rohn capturing an individual title. This year, 197-pound Jon Trenge enters the tournament with the No. 1 seed.    "Our conference has grown tremendously over the past few years. Every team in our conference has gotten a lot better. It doesn't happen without money. Our money is old money. It comes from our alumni," Strobel added.    "I don't know if we are capable of challenging these guys for the title, but we are hoping we can have a couple of national champions and a couple of All-Americans," Koll said. "Success breeds success. Because we have such great competition now, this conference has gotten better. It's not like the Big Ten yet, but I believe that in five years it will be."    Robinson and Strobel also commented on Title IX, its interpretation and the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics.    "The commission is a good statement of where (the proportionality battle) is," Robinson said. "Four years ago, the commission would have voted 14-0 to keep things they way they were. This year, it was a 7-7 split. There is a huge awareness that something has to be done."    The first session of the NCAA Championships will begin at 11 a.m. Central Time. TheMat.com will provide complete coverage of the tournament from start to finish, including a live audio broadcast of all sessions.