1. Florida Gators

Florida did not compete in week 10.

1. Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma was not able to achieve a counting score in week 10 and therefore remains tied with Florida. The advantage for end-of-season #1 now sits with Florida as Florida has a 197.500 to get rid of this week, while Oklahoma has a 197.800 to drop, meaning Florida is more likely to increase its NQS.

3. Michigan Wolverines

With its second 198 and second program record in as many weeks, Michigan was able to jump ahead of LSU and into 3rd place. With that 197.375 still to drop, Michigan does have a chance to challenge the #1-ranked teams, though it’s not the most likely outcome. Michigan would need a 198.000 at Big Tens to reach that 197.944 NQS mark and tie them, and then would need to hope both have meh scores at their own conference championships.

4. LSU Tigers

LSU did not compete in week 10. LSU is probably too far out to have a hope of catching the top teams, but with a similar NQS to Michigan and a similar score to drop, the 3-4 race could still go either way.

5. Cal Bears

Cal’s 197.600 from Sunday, the #3 score in program history, clinched a major coup as the team will enter Pac-12 Championships as the top-ranked school in the conference. It’s the first time since the conference became the Pac-12 that neither UCLA nor Utah will enter the championship as the top team.

6. Utah Utes

Utah was not able to record a counting score at Friday’s meet and fell behind Cal as a result. As Cal currently has the higher NQS and the lower score to get rid of at Pac-12s, Cal is in the driver’s seat for the higher ranking at the end of the season. If both teams end up improving their NQSs at Pac-12s, then Utah would need to outscore Cal by .575 in order to tie them in the rankings.

7. Minnesota Gophers

Minnesota also did not achieve a counting score over the weekend following a two-fall bars rotation, but as Minnesota’s closest challengers were idle, the team was able to retain the #7 ranking. Because Minnesota is hosting the conference championship, however, that lower road score can’t go away, so Minnesota will be vulnerable to getting passed by the 8-10 teams and needs to hope they don’t do great.

8. Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama did not compete in week 10.

9. Arkansas Razorbacks

Arkansas did not compete in week 10. Arkansas and Alabama may be in a sub-meet with themselves at SECs for bragging rights, though since teams #8 and #9 go to the same regional, alternating positions doesn’t really mean anything. What would mean something is going ahead of Minnesota.

9. Denver Pioneers

Denver’s first road 197 of the season allowed the team to move up into a tie for 9th with Arkansas. As the teams both have the exact same score to drop, it will come down solely to who scores better this Saturday. (If neither improve their NQSs, Arkansas owns the tiebreak advantage.)

11. Arizona State Sun Devils

Here we have another little gap in the rankings before Arizona State in 11th, so ASU will primarily be looking to use its score at Pac-12s to stay in the #3 seeded spots (9th-12th) rather than dropping to the #4 seeded spots (13th-16th) heading into regionals.

12. BYU Cougars

BYU’s season-high 197.300 was enough to keep the team at #12 this week. With a higher non-bold score than Arizona State, it will be more challenging for BYU to move up, so advantage ASU, but it is possible.

13. UCLA Bruins

UCLA recorded its third 197 of the season in its home finale to gain one spot in the rankings, though the team is yet to break out for that huge result. UCLA is close enough to Arizona State that a big performance at Pac-12s could still get the Bruins a rung higher in the conference hierarchy (and into a more comfortable regionals setup).

14. Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky did not compete in week 10 and lost a couple ranking spots as a result. Although if you’re Kentucky, you’re kind of fine with it because the current regional distribution (see after #16) is definitely not the worst option.

15. Auburn Tigers

Auburn did not compete in week 10, but watch out for that 196.100, which is a lot lower than the drop-able scores for the other teams in this ranking section. That means that if, say, both Kentucky and Auburn were to score 197.000 at SECs, Auburn would move ahead of Kentucky in the final rankings.

16. Illinois Illini

Just a casual highest score in Illinois history allowed the team to move into a tie with Georgia for 16th. Significantly, Illinois currently owns the tiebreak advantage (best score not used for NQS), so if neither team improves its NQS at conference championships, Illinois would go into regionals as a seeded team, and Georgia would not, which is why I have arranged them as such.

16. Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia did not compete in week 10, which allowed Illinois to move up into that tie for 16th. With a 196.150 still to drop, however, Georgia really should be able to get back into the seeded positions for regionals and will enjoy the advantage over Illinois in that regard. At least, with anything resembling a hit.

18. Iowa Hawkeyes

In the realm of preposterous things, Iowa counted a fall and still recorded its highest score of the season on Sunday. Moving ahead of the Illinois/Georgia group looks like a tough ask, but if Big Tens presents the same kind of scoring and Iowa actually hits…

19. Boise State Broncos

Another high 196 allowed Boise State to remain within sight of the top 16. Though in pretty much the exact same situation as Iowa, it’s not going to be the easiest prospect for these teams to move up because there are enough teams with lower drop scores battling it out in the same ranking section. Iowa and Boise State would have to rely on other teams to miss. Or conference championship scores being conservative…and I’ll wait for you to stop laughing.

20. Southern Utah Thunderbirds

21. Utah State Aggies

22. Iowa State Cyclones

23. Missouri Tigers

24. Oregon State Beavers

25. Central Michigan Chippewas

26. Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State has enough of an advantage over team #29 that I like OSU’s chances to avoid the play-in meets, but everyone lower than this will still feel somewhat vulnerable.

27. NC State Wolfpack

NC State has a weak road score to get rid of, so should have the edge in terms of staying in the top 28 and avoiding the play-ins, but NC State also hasn’t scored well away from home this season and would need to stop that trend.

28. Kent State Golden Flashes

Kent State jumped way up into avoiding-play-ins position after Friday’s 196, though there are several other teams too close for comfort. Saturday will be about score watching.

29. Eastern Michigan Eagles

EMU (and Towson) currently sit in the top spots that would go to the play-in meets, though EMU’s relative disadvantage comes from its drop score being a 195.800, which is pretty high. The conference championship score would have to be really strong to see EMU get to the top 28.

29. Towson Tigers

Towson also still entertains a shot at avoiding the play-in meets, but for a team that has not advanced to regionals in 21 years, the fact that a position in the top 36 looks pretty solid right now is already a massive victory. It’s not a given for any of the teams in this ranking zone this year (because what if West Virginia gets a 198 on Saturday, it could change everything), but if I’m sitting above 32nd at this point, there are enough teams between me and the bad zone that I’d feel pretty good.

31. Maryland Terrapins

Maryland has some serious ground to make up to get into the top 28 now, but as a 196-able team with a low 195 left to drop, keep it in mind as a possibility.

32. Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State’s ranking has fallen to a vulnerable-enough position that I’d say the focus will simply be on getting to regionals at this point rather than avoiding the play-ins. PSU is certainly a top-36 team on quality, but as they’re just .075 ahead of the 37th-place team—which translates to 3 tenths in raw meet scores—Penn State is still in a tenuous position. Definitely favored to make regionals, but could really use a hit meet at Big Tens to clinch it.

33. Western Michigan Broncos

Several weeks of non-counting scores have rendered Western’s position more vulnerable than it seemed in late February. WMU is hosting conference championships with a home score still to drop and will hope that provides the boost necessary to get a safe score.

34. Ball State Cardinals

Like Towson, it would be a massive victory for Ball State to advance to regionals, which hasn’t happened in 22 years. But Ball State is still very much a bubble team and will be in nail-biting zone all day Saturday. The fear for Ball State is that those bigger-conference teams ranked below like Nebraska, Arizona, Washington, and West Virginia will get to bask in famous-team scoring at their championships, so Ball State really needs to hit for their lives on Saturday to fend them off.

35. New Hampshire Wildcats

With a second consecutive 196, New Hampshire is making a late push into the regionals spots, though it’s going to be right down to the wire with UNH in pretty much the exact same position as Ball State. Currently in the top 36, but the hyenas are gathering.

36. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska came very close to a deus-ex-score on Sunday but it all fell apart at the end of the floor rotation to leave the Huskers vulnerable, currently in the 36th and final spot for regionals. I’d still favor Nebraska’s chances given the low score that still needs to be dropped and the fact that there are some go-to 9.9 routines on this team, but also how will the untimely injury to Martina Comin affect those lineups at Big Tens?

37. Arizona Wildcats

Arizona is currently sitting outside the regionals spots but has an ace in the hole—that 195.0 to drop. It’s clearly lower than the drop scores for the other teams in this ranking section, affording Arizona slightly more ease in its quest to move up.

38. West Virginia Mountaineers

Things are getting scary for West Virginia now. The scores have started to come, but it might be too late. Hosting Big 12s provides the opportunity for a comfortable home score, but it also means that lower road number can no longer be dropped. The Big 12s score needs to be BIG if WVU is going to advance a team to its home regional as Nebraska and Arizona have more comfortable scores still to get rid of.

39. Temple Owls

Spending the weekend recording 2 of the top 3 scores in program history has allowed Temple to make a very late push for a historic regionals qualification. This push may end up being just a week too late, but Temple is close enough now that the hope should stay alive.

40. North Carolina Tarheels

North Carolina got a much-needed 196 this week but is now faced with having to leapfrog four teams in order to advance to regionals. That’s a lot of teams to root for to have falls.

41. Washington Huskies

Don’t forget about Washington. Washington is making a very (very) late run at regionals and is currently still far behind, but keep an eye out because UW just went 196 while counting a fall and still has a low 194 to drop. If Washington even goes 196 flat again at Pac-12s, the team would have the kind of NQS I expect to advance to regionals. Despite the ranking, Washington’s position right now is sounder than that of West Virginia, Temple, or North Carolina and advancing is more likely for Washington.

42. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

It’s probably not going to happen for Rutgers, but they’re the last team I’d put in the “hey you never know” bunch.