One of the biggest differences between college gymnastics and other collegiate sports is the way teams are ranked.
Most sports rank teams based on win-loss record, but in gymnastics, squads are ranked by average score. Up until their most recent loss at Stanford, the Red Rocks were undefeated and had an average score of 197.135, good enough for fourth in the nation, a ranking they had held all season long.
As of this week, even the way teams’ averages are determined for rankings is about to change. Instead of overall average, squads will be ranked by Regional Qualifying Score. This statistic is an average of a team’s six best regular-season scores, which must include three away-meet scores. The twist to this calculation is that the top score is eliminated, while the five remaining top scores are averaged.
Utah co-head coach Greg Marsden said he wishes gymnastics rankings would be more like other sports.
“We should try to make it more like traditional sports,” Marsden said. “Why wouldn’t you count the whole season? No one can understand that. You can’t throw away scores in other sports. I think ranking by score is fine, and I understand why we do that, but I just think we should count everything.”
As the name would indicate, the RQS is what will ultimately decide the Red Rocks’ seeding for April’s NCAA Regionals. Since regionals are a precursor to the NCAA Championships, the rankings are extremely important, though gymnasts try not to let that get to their heads.
“It’s fun to be ranked up that high, but I don’t think that’s what we are thinking about when we are competing,” said senior Mary Beth Lofgren. “We just try to focus on one meet at a time and staying in the present.”
Monday’s disaster at Stanford might give Utah cause to look to the future, though. Its season-low score of 196.300 counts toward the team’s current RQS, bringing the Red Rocks’ ranked average lower than their overall average.
“That didn’t help us in any way in terms of confidence and rankings,” Marsden said. “The good thing is we have a couple more opportunities to do better and get back on a positive track.”
Putting home meets aside, the remaining opportunities for Utah to boost its RQS will be in Ann Arbor, when it takes on Michigan, and at the Pac-12 Championships just before regionals.
“To us, we feel pressure to do well on the road,” said co-head coach Megan Marsden. “We need to address handling that situation in the chances that we have left. If we do that better, then we will score better and count a decent score … If you want to be a legitimate contender at the end of the year, then it’s important to show through the season that you’re in the hunt.”
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