We have a few straggling teams that do not have their three away meets yet, so RQS won’t officially come into play until next week (unlike last year, where we started RQS before Utah was eligible, so they were just a ghost team for a week). But that means that our official rankings are still based on average, so they’re about as relevant as a Y2K reference. As such, I’ve included the top 25 based on current RQS as well below.
Official Rankings for February 20th, 2012
1. Florida – 196.929
2. Oklahoma – 196.784
3. Georgia – 196.725
3. Alabama – 196.725
5. Utah – 196.721
6. UCLA – 196.543
7. Arkansas – 196.500
8. Oregon State – 196.383
9. Nebraska – 196.308
10. Penn State – 195.982
11. Ohio State – 195.856
12. Stanford – 195.725
13. LSU – 195.575
14. Arizona – 195.321
15. Auburn – 195.250
16. Boise State – 195.225
17. Missouri – 195.211
18. Illinois – 195.036
19. NC State – 194.957
20. Denver – 194.829
21. Michigan – 194.700
22. Minnesota – 194.593
23. West Virginia – 194.543
24. Arizona State – 194.514
25. Washington – 194.504
For the uninitiated, RQS is calculated by taking a team’s top 6 scores (at least 3 of which must be away), dropping the highest score, and averaging the remaining 5. Anyone who tells you it’s complicated is lying. It took 27 words.
RQS Rankings for February 20th, 2012
1. Oklahoma – 196.995
2. Florida – 196.925
3. UCLA – 196.725
4. Georgia – 196.660
5. Utah – 196.555
6. Arkansas – 196.545
7. Alabama – 196.525
8. Oregon State – 196.180
9. Nebraska – 196.095
10. Penn State – 195.950
11. LSU – 195.935
12. Ohio State – 195.735
13. Stanford – 195.580
14. Missouri – 195.485
15. Auburn – 195.245
16. Illinois – 195.155
17. Arizona – 195.130
18. Boise State – 195.035
19. Denver – 194.890
20. NC State – 194.775
21. Washington – 194.525
22. West Virginia – 194.520
23. Iowa – 194.415
24. Kentucky – 194.255
25. New Hampshire – 194.150
Thoughts after the jump:
- Oklahoma has flown completely under the radar to this #1 RQS spot, and I don’t think anyone is sold that they are the top team in the country. They are very good, but I still have questions about how competitive they will be on vault and floor when competing directly against the top teams in the postseason–amplitude and difficulty may pale in comparison. However, they have achieved this position by being extremely consistent on beam and recording huge scores on the road, two excellent predicting factors for postseason success.
- UCLA is a bit of a surprise in the #3 spot because they have been good but not great for the last couple weeks on the road. However, they have put up scores in the high 196s which puts them in an advantageous position compared to teams still counting road scores in the low 196s from the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, they are looking more and more like an injury box.
- Arkansas and Utah are the only very top teams hosting Regionals this year. Watch out for Auburn as a potential spoiler host in that #3 seed spot. That’s the most dangerous type of team in Regionals. If I’m a nonhost, I’d much rather see a top seed or a lower team with an unrealistic shot even with charitable scoring.
- We’re just seeing Arkansas falter a bit in the rankings after the fast start. It may just be a bit too much to ask this year, but they’re making a case for always being part of the conversation.
- Most teams have just three or four regular season meets left. It’s time to start getting those postseason lineups out onto the floor this week and next week, especially because those teams that compete the week before conference championships have to manage fatigue at the very end of the regular season. This weekend, keep an eye on which teams are able to do it and which teams still have to manage lineups because of injury or uncertainty about hitting. It will be very telling with regard to postseason success.