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How does women's college gymnastics scoring work? What to know before NCAA tournament
TL;DR
Women's college gymnastics scoring differs significantly from Olympic scoring, featuring a perfect 10 for flawless routines. The 2026 NCAA championship semifinals will be held on April 16 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Key points
- Women's college gymnastics scoring includes a perfect 10.
- Perfect 10s are rare; only a few gymnasts have achieved them.
- The 2026 championship semifinals are on April 16.
- Teams competing include Oklahoma, Arkansas, UCLA, and Minnesota.
- The second semifinal features LSU, Stanford, Florida, and Georgia.
Scoring in women's college gymnastics can get confusing. It's also much different than the scoring used for gymnastics at the Olympic level.
The 2026 women's college gymnastics national championship semifinals take place on Thursday, April 16, in Fort Worth, Texas, before the national championship competition on April 18. Oklahoma, Arkansas, UCLA and Minnesota compete for two national championship spots in the first semifinal, whereas LSU, Stanford, Florida and Georgia are competing for the other two spots in the second semifinal.
REQUIRED READING: Who's in NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships semifinals? Updated bracket, schedule
Women's college gymnastics does have the perfect 10 in its scoring, with perfectly executed routines earning the illustrious score, unlike at the Olympic level where there's no perfect 10 score. Perfect 10s are also quite rare, as the most ever in a career by a single gymnast is 28, with Jenny Hansen, Jamie Dantzscher and Trinity Thomas all tied for the most.
Even the most diehard gymnastics fans could use a refresher on the sport's scoring from time to time. Here's how women's gymnastics scoring works ahead of the semifinals and finals in 2026:
How does women's college gymnastics scoring work?
Unlike elite scoring, which is used at the Olympics, and men's college gymnastics, women's college gymnastics doesn't use the open-ending scoring system, where perfect 10 scores don't exist. In elite scoring, routines are scored with both an execution score out of 10.000 and a difficulty score, which comprises of the moves and skills shown.
In women's college gymnastics, vault operates differently than the other four events — bars, beam and floor. The highest maximum score in any event is 10.00, which can only be achieved by executing a specific move that results in a higher start value.
In vault, for example, a Yurchenko one-and-a-half routine has a 10.00 maximum value, whereas the Yurchenko full's maximum possible score is 9.95 due to the difficulty of the two moves.
Q&A
How does scoring in women's college gymnastics differ from Olympic scoring?
Women's college gymnastics scoring includes a perfect 10 for flawless routines, while Olympic scoring does not use a perfect 10 system.
What teams are competing in the 2026 NCAA women's gymnastics championship semifinals?
The teams competing are Oklahoma, Arkansas, UCLA, Minnesota, LSU, Stanford, Florida, and Georgia.
What is the significance of a perfect 10 in women's college gymnastics?
A perfect 10 represents a flawlessly executed routine and is a rare achievement, with only a few gymnasts having scored it multiple times in their careers.
When are the 2026 NCAA women's gymnastics championship semifinals scheduled?
The semifinals are scheduled for April 16, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas.
