NCAA NQS Changes for 2026

[RedBirdie]

Big changes afoot! Here's the short version:

• Teams must compete in a minimum of 9 competitions, minimum of 5 of which must be away meets
• All away meets are included in NQS
• Up to 5 home meets included in NQS
• If a team has more than 5 home meets, only the 5 lowest scores count towards NQS
• Drop the highest and lowest score of the eligible competitions to determine NQS
• Only 1 neutral site meet within 30 miles of campus can count as an away meet; additional neutral site meets withing 30 miles of campus will be counted as home meets
• Conference championships at neutral sites will be counted as away meets, not subject to the bullet point above

CGN has a bigger write up here, including a link to the NCAA rule changes and examples of how the new NQS will work

BREAKING: Major Changes Coming to National Qualifying Score in 2026 - College Gym News

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collegegymnews.com

 

[RedBirdie]

Glancing through Spencer's 2026 NCAA master schedule, it appears to be way less neutral site meets this year. Although maybe they're just not marked as such yet (like Best of Utah is on the schedule, but not named as such).

2026 NCAA Schedule

to add:George WashingtonKent StateSEMOLIUFiskWest ChesterGreenvilleSpringfield MEET WEEK 1Friday, January 29:00pm ET/6:00pm PTMinnesota, Iowa @ UtahSaturday, January 33:00pm ET/12:00pm PTStout, Gre…

balancebeamsituation.com

 

[irichluck21]

I am shocked that they went away with the 6 scores and went with 9.
I think it is a great idea and is more representative of what a team can actually consistently do.
I wonder how 2925 would have turned out with this format.

I know Greg Marsden was unhappy with the neutral site being 30 miles from the campus because he said it unfairly treated Utah.

 

[RedBirdie]

Utah was totally gaming the system by going to multiple "away" meets a year at the Maverick Center, less than 10 miles away from the Huntsman Center. Greg Marsden's a big crybaby. Good on them for finding a loophole and exploiting it, but this is hardly "unfairly targeting" Utah. It's trying to level the playing field for everyone.

I'm also intrigued by how 2025 would have played out, and I'm very curious to see how this impacts strategy this year. No more having a couple of shit meets and say "oh well, those won't count!" Especially if they're home. I love that NQS can now go up or down from week to week. Should make things more exciting.

 

[irichluck21]

Yeah it will make the last few meets really exciting since now we will have to wait until at the very least week 9.

I wonder if coaches will be pissed that this passed now but schedules have already been produced.
Will NCAA allow teams to add to their schedule?

For example Utah has only 4 away meets scheduled- so they don't meet the minimum until they count one of the Maverick Center meets. So every away meet has to count plus one more.

The Sprouts Quad meet, The Best of Utah, Big 12s are all scheduled for the Maverick Center. So two of them need to count as a home meet.

 

[RedBirdie]

Utah only one needs to count one as an away meet. Conference meets always count as away if they're neutral. I assume Best of Utah will be forced to count as a home meet, as it's the second regular season neutral site meet.

Away Meets:
Sprouts
Iowa State
Arizona
Denver
UCLA

 

[BB12]

I'm glad they've closed the Maverick Centre loophole, although I still dislike that conference champs still count as 'away' for them when it's not. That's giving them 2 meets there that count as away scores despite them typically getting home judging there.

And a big fan of including 9 meets as NQS. Consistency and teams that show up ready from week 1 should be rewarded.

 

[RedBirdie]

Minimum nine meets. Can be more!

I'm slowing working through last year's results to see how the new NQS would have impacted things. It would not have changed the top 16 teams, although the order got shaken up a bit. Which would have effects on seeding, of course, but I haven't gotten to figuring that part out yet.

 

[irichluck21]

Conference meets always count as away if they're neutral

Which would be fine if the conference meet rotated. But it is always at Utah.

 

[RedBirdie]

New NQS would have wildly shaken up who qualified for regionals and who missed out. I'm through the top 42 NQS scores from last season so far.

Made regionals, would miss out under new system: Rutgers, West Virginia, UC Davis

Missed Regionals, would make it under new NQS: Towson, George Washington, Washington

The biggest change in NQS score so far: Illinois (-.566), Rutgers (-.663), Central Michigan (-.682), West Virginia (-.880), and UC Davis (-.938)

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

The coaches were aware of these changes before they made the schedules.

Greg Marsden can shut the fuck up. He lost all credibility when he defended Tom Farden and continues to have the most ridiculous bias for Utah.

 

[RedBirdie]

Okay, I finished the top 46 teams according to 2025 NQS! I used Road to Nationals for the scores and defining home vs away meets; I will say, I did not go back and see which away meets might have to count as home meets under the new system, so there might be some minor variations as a result.

The biggest change is Rutgers, West Virginia, and UC Davis would be out, while Towson, GWU, and Washington would have made regionals.

The top 16 teams remained the same, but the order changed, which would have affected seeding. Oklahoma was the top team. Most teams remained the same rank or moved up or down 1, but here were a few notable movers: Stanford up 3 spots, Minnesota down 3, and Auburn up 2.

The biggest ranking of the top 46 were GWU (+7), Pitt (+6), Ohio State (+5), Iowa and Rutgers (-5 each), West Virginia (-9), and UC Davis (-11!). Twelve teams saw no change in the NQS ranking, all of whom made regionals in 2025.

The average difference in NQS score is -.367. Every team saw a decline in NQS under the new system (not surprising, given that it includes far more scores). For teams in 2025's top 16, the average is -.262, teams 17-36 is -.433, and 37-46 is -.403. Oklahoma, UCLA, Kentucky, and Michigan State saw less then .2 difference. Iowa State, Iowa, Illinois, Rutgers, Central Michigan, West Virginia, and UC Davis all saw differences between .531 and .938. Of top 16 teams, LSU, Florida, and Utah saw the largest declines in NQS score.