We’re supposed to pretend we’re interested in calling it NQS now instead of RQS—mostly because the new system has individual qualifiers to regionals decided based on their national rankings instead of their regional rankings, making regional classification even less important than it was before—but also like meh. This score still determines who qualifies to regionals, so RQS it is.

1. Oklahoma Sooners

RQS: 197.925
Previous ranking: 1

Maximum possible RQS after next meet: 198.050
Meets remaining: 5
Road meets remaining: 2

Oklahoma retains the #1 ranking this week by a sizable but dwindling margin after recording a no-Nichols, no-Showers 197.150 on Sunday at West Virginia, a semi-miss of a meet with issues on both beam and floor—though no counting falls. Oklahoma cannot afford absences as significant as this and still be a championship-winning team. That we’ve learned. But also duh. While having lost some ground to UCLA, Oklahoma will still retain the #1 ranking next Monday regardless of what happens in the meet between the two on Sunday.

2. UCLA Bruins

RQS: 197.800
Previous ranking: 2

Maximum possible RQS after next meet: 197.885
Meets remaining: 4
Road meets remaining: 2

Well, it wasn’t boring. (Dear world, holding newspapers in front of your face is harmless and nothing and also welcome to sports and get over it, and MyKayla Skinner absolutely was not underscored and to imply Utah—UTAH—is somehow a poor, oppressed minority that the judges hate is wildly disingenuous. There is no war on Christmas. Now, everyone go in from recess.) Anyway, for all the noise around Utah/UCLA, what really happened is that UCLA performed better gymnastics than Utah did and secured its status in the first tier of teams with a season-high-tying 198.025. What that score served to do is entrench UCLA at #2, unable to be caught by Florida or any other team this coming weekend.

3. Florida Gators

RQS: 197.545
Previous ranking: 3

Maximum possible RQS after next meet: 197.685
Meets remaining: 3
Road meets remaining: 2

It feels like 80 lifetimes ago that Florida lost to Georgia in the “Carol doesn’t know how to make the email box work” meet, a meet in which Florida was fine-but-kind-of-off in the early going, Things really changed when Florida counted a pretty large mistake on beam to allow Georgia into the meet, without the benefit of a home buffer since both teams were being scored with the same rose-colored code. With those other high 197s, however, Florida will be safe at #3 for another week regardless of what happens this weekend.

4. LSU Tigers

RQS: 197.280
Previous ranking: 5

Maximum possible RQS after next meet: 197.380
Meets remaining: 4
Road meets remaining: 2

LSU will hardly be pleased with the 197.125 recorded against Arkansas, with less-than-perfect showings across the board bringing the score down to a level that LSU will hope to drop in the coming weeks. Nonetheless, this 197 meant that LSU could drop a low 196 from January that was still hanging around and therefore move ahead of Utah in the rankings. LSU is in some vague danger of falling behind Utah and Denver this weekend but can avert that danger and guarantee staying at #4 by scoring a 197.350, which really isn’t a lot to ask.

5. Utah Utes

RQS: 197.220
Previous ranking: 4

Maximum possible RQS after next meet: 197.315
Meets remaining: 3
Road meets remaining: 2

Despite recording a season high in the loss to UCLA, Utah loses a single place in the rankings because that season high is dropped as part of RQS calculation and the remaining scores were all already pretty similar. That better score, however, does give Utah a bit higher ceiling and the opportunity to pass LSU this weekend should things go just right. Even so, LSU has the higher maximum possible RQS so will be the team determining how that plays out. The new twist is that Utah now also has to watch out for Denver, which could catch Utah with another big result as long as Utah also returns to the lower 197s against Michigan. 

Continue reading NCAA Week 8 Rankings and RQS Update →