NCAA Pre-Season 2025-2026

[GEMINAM]

As long as they are hydrating eye masks I am in favor of this. Some of these NFL players are in desperate need of a skincare routine.

valid

 

[Kara]

Out of 74,000 NCAA football players 250 are drafted; out of 19,000 NCAAM Basketball players 60 get drafted. There are 1,500 NCAA gymnasts, 20 went to the 2024 Olympics, so the gymnastics equivalent of "going pro." Percentage wise the amount of athletes going pro in any sport is ridiculously low.

 

[irichluck21]

A bunch with first place votes. Crazy that Missouri got 2 first place votes.
They are still good, but not sure if they have the same fire power as last year's 3rd place finish.
Celestine and Moore will be hard to replace for their multiple events and losing Titarsolej and Hu is going to hurt as those were a sure 9.9+ every time out.

 

[GEMINAM]

Out of 74,000 NCAA football players 250 are drafted; out of 19,000 NCAAM Basketball players 60 get drafted. There are 1,500 NCAA gymnasts, 20 went to the 2024 Olympics, so the gymnastics equivalent of "going pro." Percentage wise the amount of athletes going pro in any sport is ridiculously low.

I love your thumbs down emoji.. Ha ha! Whatever that is for? 250 football players are drafted each year... I think there were 3 US collegiate gymnast in the 2024 Olympics.. I think you are missing the point here... but it doesn't matter because you are just trying to find something to pick out that you want to so badly point out.. which i don't even understand.

 

[RichardL]

The argument that there is no "next level" after NCAA (despite stats here showing that the next level for football players is basically so gate-held as to be considered unattainable) so therefore they should do easy routines to not get injured (??) is antithetical to the idea of competitive sport. That's where the thumbs downs are coming from. Happy to keep 'em coming on my end.

 

[GEMINAM]

The argument that there is no "next level" after NCAA (despite stats here showing that the next level for football players is basically so gate-held as to be considered unattainable) so therefore they should do easy routines to not get injured (??) is antithetical to the idea of competitive sport. That's where the thumbs downs are coming from. Happy to keep 'em coming on my end.

Nobody said to do easy routines... what ncaa gymnasts are you watching that are doing easy routines? However using an analogy for us to make football and basketball more entertaining and less boring since they don't ever change it up or make them push the entertainment value is...thanks Richard keep em' coming...

 

[RichardL]

Nobody said to do easy routines... what ncaa gymnasts are you watching that are doing easy routines? However using an analogy for us to make football and basketball more entertaining and less boring since they don't ever change it up or make them push the entertainment value is...thanks Richard keep em' coming...

Your reading comprehension is far below my pay grade so I'm bowing out. Godspeed.

 

[GEMINAM]

Your reading comprehension is far below my pay grade so I'm bowing out. Godspeed

you got me! insults are always the easy way out. ha ha!

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

 

[hmmmm]

They are essentially all professional athletes lite in my eyes. I don't see an issue in asking for teams to put up six girls who can do a single bar release from their 20 options.

 

[BB12]

Sometimes I think the perception of what is 'easy' is off.

Most athletes are competing the top range of the skills they can safety perform on a regular basis. That should be the focus when determining what level is appropriate for NCAA, not the 1% who are former elites and can do more.

 

[tsarinajen]

Sometimes I think the perception of what is 'easy' is off.

Most athletes are competing the top range of the skills they can safety perform on a regular basis. That should be the focus when determining what level is appropriate for NCAA, not the 1% who are former elites and can do more.

Which is valid. But the problem comes in with the scoring then. A floor pass of a whip half, front full and a double pike should not be able to score the same as a more difficult routine. Because the harder routine should score higher -- it's objectively harder, and it's still a sport. And if they score the same, then you see teams with objectively easier floor routines score near the same which encourages easier routines because they still want to win.

 

[BB12]

Which is valid. But the problem comes in with the scoring then. A floor pass of a whip half, front full and a double pike should not be able to score the same as a more difficult routine. Because the harder routine should score higher -- it's objectively harder, and it's still a sport. And if they score the same, then you see teams with objectively easier floor routines score near the same which encourages easier routines because they still want to win.

But who says it shouldn't? You? The written rules for this branch of the sports says they can score the same because it's not about who is doing the hardest gymnasts but about who is doing the best executed skills. Elite exists for those who want to watch difficultly focused routines.

 

[tsarinajen]

But who says it shouldn't? You? The written rules for this branch of the sports says they can score the same because it's not about who is doing the hardest gymnasts but about who is doing the best executed skills. Elite exists for those who want to watch difficultly focused routines.

But the judges don’t distinguish the best execution either, that’s part of the problem. A 9.9 doesn’t mean the same across rotations let alone different meets.

 

[BB12]

But the judges don’t distinguish the best execution either, that’s part of the problem. A 9.9 doesn’t mean the same across rotations let alone different meets.

And thats a different conversation then the difficulty one.
The judges should be applying the code correctly.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

But who says it shouldn't? You? The written rules for this branch of the sports says they can score the same because it's not about who is doing the hardest gymnasts but about who is doing the best executed skills. Elite exists for those who want to watch difficultly focused routines.

Well perhaps the NCAA judges should actually start applying prescribed deductions, then.

The reason why we are seeing so many 2-pass routines is that judges are not applying deductions to dance elements.

 

[hmmmm]

Maybe they need some 'up to the level' deductions like JO, but they only apply at regional/national championships.

 

[cuuf]

This is exactly why I think the focus should be more on judging than on difficulty. Doing things to help judges judge more effectively will have more of an impact on creating differentiation between athletes and teams while keeping the sport accessible and competitive. More oversight and accountability for judging, look at the possible incorporation of technology for judging, using more judges, etc

 

[KristyJ]

Out of 74,000 NCAA football players 250 are drafted; out of 19,000 NCAAM Basketball players 60 get drafted. There are 1,500 NCAA gymnasts, 20 went to the 2024 Olympics, so the gymnastics equivalent of "going pro." Percentage wise the amount of athletes going pro in any sport is ridiculously low.

Fascinatingly, gymnastics has you three times as likely to hit the bar for what you list above, via those numbers

 

[KristyJ]

This is exactly why I think the focus should be more on judging than on difficulty. Doing things to help judges judge more effectively will have more of an impact on creating differentiation between athletes and teams while keeping the sport accessible and competitive. More oversight and accountability for judging, look at the possible incorporation of technology for judging, using more judges, etc

The wild thing is that basically all NCAA judges are also highly rated J.O. judges and so they should be able to score these routines equally effectively. There have to be more elements at play, like pressure to give 10s for TV, etc.