Decoding NCAA Women's Gymnastics Rankings: A Comprehensive Guide

The world of NCAA women's gymnastics can be both exhilarating and intricate. This article aims to demystify the rankings, scoring, and postseason structure of NCAA women's gymnastics. Whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned fan, this guide will provide a comprehensive understanding of the sport.

Who Competes in NCAA Gymnastics?

NCAA gymnastics showcases a diverse range of talent, from level 9 gymnasts to elites, including former World Champions. Top-tier schools actively recruit level 10 gymnasts, who often rival their elite teammates. The routine composition in NCAA differs from elite gymnastics, reducing the emphasis on extreme difficulty and creating a more level playing field.

Level 10 gymnasts constitute the majority of Division I collegiate athletes, with varying skill levels. While top teams attract the best level 10s, other teams remain competitive. Division II and Division III teams typically feature a mix of level 10 and level 9 gymnasts. Some gymnasts may "walk-on" to a team, often level 10s who were not heavily recruited but have connections to a higher-level team. These walk-ons can sometimes achieve significant success and even earn scholarships.

International elites, primarily from countries like Great Britain, Canada, and Australia, also play a significant role in NCAA gymnastics.

The Regular Season: Building a Foundation for Rankings

College teams typically compete once a week, usually on Friday nights or weekends. Meets can be head-to-head, tri-meets, or quad meets. Each team fields six gymnasts on each event, with the top five scores contributing to the team total. Individual scores are out of 10.0, making the maximum team score 200. Most meets are streamed online, either for free or through paid subscriptions.

Understanding NCAA Gymnastics Scoring

In NCAA gymnastics, every team selects six gymnasts to compete in each of the four events, with each athlete performing two routines. The two scores are averaged, and then the top five scores from the team are added to get the team’s total combined score. The highest possible score a team could achieve is 200.

Each college gymnast starts at a 9.500. If they complete bonus combinations or certain additional gymnastics skills, then .5 worth of bonus is added, making their starting score a 10.0. Deductions are made based on execution and overall performance. Some common deductions include:

Flexed feet
Bent legs
Leg or knee separation
Wobbles
Steps or hops

How is Difficulty Calculated?

In level 10, there are no restrictions on what skills athletes may compete and be credited with, though as in NCAA, the highest difficulty rating a skill can have is an E. As in NCAA and most 10.0 systems historically, there is a certain base score you can achieve by meeting the composition requirements. In level 10, this base value is 9.5, and in NCAA it is 9.4. The biggest differences are of course vault start values.

Routine Requirements and Judging

Judges consider routine requirements, execution of gymnastics skills, and overall performance for each event. At the college level, as well as Level 9 and 10, there are also bonus combinations that must be met for a gymnast to start at a score of 10.0. Essentially, they start at a 9.500 unless they successfully perform five-tenths worth of bonus skills and combinations to reach a 10.0.

Then, judges look at execution and overall performance. This is where pointed toes, legs being separated, and uncontrolled landings come into play. Points are taken away when the gymnast fails to perfect their execution. Lastly, there are miscellaneous items, such as stepping out of bounds, that would cause a deduction in a routine.

Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile

The Ranking System: From Averages to RQS/NQS

Rankings are determined by team performance during the regular season, excluding championship meets. Each Monday, team scores from the previous week are averaged. The team with the highest average is ranked number one. However, after six meets, the ranking system shifts to the National Qualifying Score (NQS), formerly known as Regional Qualifying Score (RQS).

Understanding NQS

NQS factors in the top six scores, with at least three from away meets. The highest score is dropped, and the remaining five are averaged.

For example, consider a team with the following scores from nine meets:

Home: 199.2, 198.8, 198.6, 198.4, and 198.2
Away: 199, 198.9, 198.8, and 198.7

The NQS would be calculated as follows:

Take the top three away scores: 199, 198.9, and 198.8.
Take the next top scores, including the 199.2 and 198.8 home scores and the 198.7 away score.
Drop the highest score (199.2) and average the remaining five.

The Significance of NQS

NQS places greater emphasis on away meets, as home judges tend to be more generous. Consistent performance on the road leads to a closer alignment between RQS/NQS and the team's average score.

Postseason Competition: Regionals, Nationals, and Beyond

Rankings play a vital role in postseason qualification, especially for regional championships.

Regular season All-Americans are determined using NQS rankings. The honor is determined by taking the top eight on each event and the all around for the First Team and Nos.

Conference Championships

Conference championships are a way for teams within the same conference to compete for a title. Every gymnastics team is part of a conference. Each team is invited to its conference championships, with no qualification procedures. While winning the conference title offers bragging rights, it does not directly affect postseason advancement.

There are 13 conferences in collegiate gymnastics across the three divisions. The Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC are considered the “Big 4” conferences, similar to Power 5 conferences in football.

Regional Championships

The top 36 teams based on NQS qualify for one of four regional championships. The top 16 teams are seeded, while the remaining teams are placed geographically.

The top 36-ranked teams are invited to compete in one of six regional championships around the country, and the rankings determine where the top 18 teams are seeded.

Each regional features nine teams and a varying number of individuals. Thirty-six teams qualify to regionals using national qualifying score rankings. NQS is determined by taking a team’s top six scores, three of which must be away, dropping the high and averaging the remaining five.

Regional Qualifying Structure

Regionals is a four day competition, including one rest day. Day one features a dual meet between the two “play-in” teams with the winner advancing to compete in the second session on day two. In each of the two day two sessions, the top two teams will advance to the regional final on where the top two teams from that quad meet advance to NCAA semifinals in two weeks’ time. In 2023, the NCAA split the four regional sites into separate Wednesday/Thursday/Saturday and Thursday/Friday/Sunday competition schedules.

The top two teams from each regional championship advance to the NCAA Championships, resulting in 12 teams competing at the final meet.
The top 12 all arounders and top 16 individual event specialists on each event, who are not on a top 28 qualifying team, make it to regionals.

Individual Qualifiers

These individuals are placed at a regional competition geographically. To determine the session in which they compete, the NCAA outlined the following, confusing, parameters: “To ensure the top-seeded teams have the least number of individuals competing with them, the committee will pair the highest-ranked all-arounder at the site with the lowest-seeded team (or lowest NQS team at the site first, then proceed to the seeded teams), the next highest all-arounder with the next lowest-seeded team, etc.

NCAA Championships

At nationals, the 12 teams compete in two subdivisions of the qualifying event, which also serves as the all-around final and the event final qualification. The top three teams from each subdivision advance to the team final, known as the Super Six.

At nationals, all individuals will compete on Friday in one of the two semifinal sessions.
Two teams compete in round one on Wednesday or Thursday while the remaining seven get a round-one bye and automatically advance to round two.

Tie-Breaking Procedures

Any ties in the all around are broken by looking at the highest single event score, then the next highest and so forth until the tie is broken. For individual event ties, all four judges’ scores will be counted and averaged. If a tie still exists, the head judge score will be the tie breaker.

USAG Collegiate Championships

There is a separate nationals called the USAG Collegiate Championships, which is for Division II and the lower-ranked Division I teams.

NCGA National Championships

Qualification for the NCGA national championships is determined by performances at regional championships and Seasonal Average Scores (SAS) as listed on Road to Nationals. The two regional meets used for qualification are the NCGA-East championship and the WIAC championship. In addition to team qualifiers, six individual all-around gymnasts not on qualifying teams advance to nationals. For each individual event, six gymnasts not already qualified as part of a team or as an all-arounder will also qualify.

The Atmosphere of College Gymnastics

College gymnastics emphasizes the team dynamic, creating an electrifying atmosphere at meets. The support among teammates is immense. During floor routines, the entire team lines up on the sidelines to cheer and perform choreography alongside the athlete.

The energy at NCAA gymnastics meets is palpable, with large crowds filling the arenas. This creates an awesome experience for the gymnasts, who are cheered on by thousands of fans every week.

Recruiting: Finding the Next Generation of Gymnasts

Gymnastics recruiting is extremely competitive. Most coaches find recruits through elite training gymnasiums with top youth development programs, where gymnasts compete and place well in international and national competitions before high school. But the biggest draw for college coaches are Level 10 or elite gymnasts who compete in the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics Program.

What Coaches Look For

Coaches are also interested in dynamic gymnasts who are strong across all four apparatuses and can compete all-around. But really, it comes down to what the coach needs and what the recruit’s strengths are. For example, if a coach has a senior graduating who is their top scorer on vault, then they need to make up those points with a recruit who has similar skills. That’s why we always recommend looking at the athlete roster at your top colleges. Here, you can see the current gymnasts’ scores, specialties and training history.

The Four Events in Women's Gymnastics

There are four gymnastics events in women’s college gymnastics: vault, bars, beam and floor. During competitions, every team selects six gymnasts to compete in each of the four events, with each athlete performing two routines. The two scores are averaged, and then the top five scores from the team are added to get the team’s total combined score.

Vault: Each skill is worth a certain value based on its entry style and flight element.
Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, and Floor Exercise: Each routine starts with a base start value of 9.4 and builds up to a 10.0 through various skill connections, bonus, and difficulty.

All-American Honors and Awards

After the conclusion of the regular season, which includes conference meets but ends before regionals, regular season All-Americans are determined using NQS rankings.
All-American status is determined by taking the top four, with ties, on each event and the all around from each session at the NCAA national championships for the first team and Nos.
Any gymnast who makes event finals at USAG nationals, including those who qualify but do not compete, are named First-Team All-Americans, as well as those finishing in the top eight in the all around standings.

Academic and Athletic Recognition

Academic All-District Team: The Academic All-District team is selected by members of CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at their current institution.
The Elite 90 Award: The Elite 90 award goes to the student-athlete who has the highest cumulative grade-point average of all student-athletes on all teams competing at the NCAA national championships.

Conference-Specific Honors

These honors are given based on criteria determined by each conference. However, most follow the same general guidelines. In the SEC, for example, to earn All-SEC recognition, gymnasts must finish in the top two spots (including ties) per event in each SEC championship session.

The Honda Sports Award

The Honda Sports Award acknowledges athletic and academic achievement, as well as community involvement for the 12 different NCAA-sanctioned sports, including gymnastics. Each Honda Award winner is recognized as the top collegiate female athlete in her sport, and each of the 12 move on as nominees for the Honda Cup each year.

The AAI Award

Often called the Heisman Trophy of women’s gymnastics, the AAI Award is given to an outstanding senior gymnast as nominated and voted for by the sport’s head coaches. After initial nominations are announced, the field is then narrowed to the top six where the award is presented at the NCAA national championships banquet.

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