The women's teams are ranked using their Regional Qualifying Score, or RQS. This score is calculated by taking the team's top three AWAY scores, then taking the next three highest OTHER scores, throwing out the HIGH, and averaging the rest. With just one meet remaining, this maximum score is what determines the school's maximum possible RQS.

So why is the Top 36 so critical? Well these top 36 teams qualify to one of six Regionals. The top two from each Regional will then qualify to Nationals. Right now, North Carolina is on the "bubble" in 36th place. But, they are just one of several teams with a shot of making the Top 36. WMU, CMU, Bridgeport and SUU all still have a mathematical shot at surpassing UNC. In fact, BYU, UNH, San Jose State and Maryland are also still at risk of not making the Regional meet.

However, BYU, UNH, SJSU, Maryland and UNC are all in control of their own destinies. If they post a high enough score this weekend, they cannot be passed by WMU, CMU, Bridgeport, or SUU. Of these teams in the bubble region, UNC has the lowest score counting in their average. Thus, they are at an advantage in increasing their RQS score and can move "out of reach" of the three challengers by posting a 194.65.

Also critical is the Top 18. The Top 18 teams are seeded into each of the six regions via "trios" of teams groups according to their ranking: 1-12-13, 2-11-14, 3-10-15, 4-9-16, 5-8-17, 6-7-18. If a host team is part of the "trio", the entire "trio" is considered "anchored" to that Region and will be assigned to that Regional competition site. If there are two hosts in the "trio", the "trio" is broken up and split with the nearest available "trio", with the advantage going to the "trio" containing the highest ranked team. If there is no host in the "trio", the "trio" is placed in accordance with geographical proximity of the highest ranked team. The remaining Regional fields are placed with teams ranked 19-36, with attention avoided to place too many teams from the same conference or Region in the same Regional.

The Regional hosts are Arkansas, Auburn, Illinois, NC State, Utah and Washington.

Of the challengers to the Top 18, Missouri, NC State, Michigan and Washington all still have a mathematical shot at finishing in the Top 18. We'll be keeping an eye on hosts NC State and Washington, because if either host moves into the Top 18, the expected seedings into the Regionals may be impacted. NC State has the best shot of the two, and they could finish as high as 16th. Minnesota, Arizona and DU are still at risk of dropping out of the Top 18 with a strong performance from the challengers and a sub-par performance this weekend.

Currently, Florida has a stranglehold on the top spot, and only Bama and UCLA can surpass them.

We've also calculated an "away" average by averaging the top three away marks for each school. We then averaged the three "other" scores used to calculated the RQS, and then subtracted the result. Frequently, teams perform and score better at home, for a variety of reasons. The "away average" gives an idea of how these teams might fare on the road. You will notice that several teams have a delta of 0.98 points or better between their "away average" and their "other average" (Utah, Ohio State, NC State, Kent State and UNH). Some teams like NU, OU, Stanford, PSU, Minnesota and Michigan (and others) have higher "away averages" than "other averages".

Traditionally, the third seed (the lowest seed in the "trio") is regarded as the strongest challenger. That may not be entirely true anymore, due to the increasing parity in the NCAA. The gap between places 13 and 24 in skill level, execution and scoring ability is not as great as it has been in the past. An aging code that was already designed to increase parity is also contributing to this trend. Thus, the #4 seeds that also serve as hosts (currently NC State, Washington and Illinois) will also be in the mix to challenge the Top Two seeds at Regionals.

Note:  Using the tiebreaker, LSU is currently ahead of Oregon State.