OU is the Coaches' Favorite to Regain the Title
Last season, in a shocking semifinal, OU experienced a series of falls and low landings on vault (and another on BB), knocking them out running for a spot in the Final. This season, with most of their key returners back, and a talented class of newcomers, the Sooners are embarking on a redemption tour.
Can LSU Repeat, or will Florida, Cal, Utah or Another Challenger Rise?
LSU, despite some losses to graduation, has simply reloaded their very deep lineups. They look set to be in championship contention once again. Florida recently added a late January addition, in senior elite Ly Bui. That will take some of the edge off some of their lineup losses due to injury and graduation. They will still have a very strong core returning, but injuries and depth will still remain a key variable in their success. Cal finished 2nd last season and returns most of their lineups. With exciting newcomers like British champion Ondine Anchampong, they look set to contend again. Utah exceeded some expectations last season, mainly due to coaching staff change and some off season losses to transfers. They have a strong incoming class this year and plenty of talent on the roster, even though former NCAA AA champ Maile O'Keefe is now on the Ute coaching staff. Also, any number of other teams may also break through and make an impact this season.
Close and Exciting Regional Meets
The new post-season format is delivering as it was designed, with close competitions and a format that helps level out the scoring variation that we've seen skew too many Regional fields in the past. While we are still ending up with some Regionals being "harder" than others, the three round meet format is giving more opportunities for lower ranked teams to pull an upset.
New Judge Evaluation System Takes Flight
Back in 2024, lax judging, a too easy code and rising abilities across the NCAA led to some record high scores at the individual and team levels. In response, the NCAA moved in 2004 to initially change the criteria in which judges were selected to judge competitions. The Judging Assignment Systems (JAS) was created, a conflict of interest system developed, and judge selection was no longer in the hands of the teams being judged. This first step was effective in reducing the number of artificially high scores (and was followed the next year by a code overall). This season, the NCAA is implementing a new judging evaluation system, called the "SCORE Board" and a new "Supervisor of Officials" (Jennifer Sampson). This new system will be evaluating judges and their performance, via private video evaluations made by the SCORE Board members. This evaluation includes accuracy relative to the reference score and penalties for large errors in evaluations (like impossible scores). The NCAA and the NAWGJ are also (once again) increasing education efforts, in a push to drive improved uniformity in judging precision.
New Code Changes
We previously highlighted the minor changes in the NCAA Code Modifications for 2024-2025 in this article: Link These are changes the NCAA makes to the underlying Level 10 code in the Women's Development Program Code of Points. Since we published the article, a few additional changes to the underlying code were approved. A few of the NCAA changes are a bit more impactful this season, especially on the FX. On all events, a new deduction for a medium-sized step has been added and clarified. Now, judges are encourage to take 0.15 for a medium step that is larger than the 0.1 step but does not yet merit a deduction for a large step.
Two Passes vs. Three
The NCAA made a change to the way a bonus tenth was allocated for routines that end in a double flipping D salto, or with an E salto. Now, for two pass routines to receive a 0.1 bonus for a double flipping salto, that salto must be in a direct or indirect salto combination. This means many two pass routines from last season must find another 0.1 points in bonus. This will typically come from dance, a dance combo, or a acro-dance combination. In some cases, we may see athletes add a third acro line or add a compliant second line (front to double tuck, double twisting front, etc).
Scoring Ranges Tighten
In prior seasons, the judges were declared to be "in range" of each other as long as a final averaged score between 9.8 and 10 did NOT have the judges spread by more than 0.2 points. Now, for the regular season, that range of judge's scores will be reduced to 0.1 points, if the average of the judges score falls between 9.8 and 10 (and 0.2 points in the postseason). For scores that fall between the range of 9.5 and 9.775, a range of 0.2 will be permitted. Since most NCAA scores fall within these two ranges, there likely will be an increase in judging conferences.
(Perhaps) The Last Season of Super-sized Rosters
2025 marks the last year where an additional year of eligibility had been granted to those athletes impacted by the COVID season of 2020-2021. Those gymnasts who were frosh in the the 2021 season are the last remaining athletes that will benefit from an extra year of eligibility granted due to COVID. Also, landmark settlements in the field of professionalism, name image and likeness (NIL) and profit sharing may impact next season. Among the proposed changes is a roster limit of 20 on gymnastics teams sponsored by schools that are opting into the House Settlement terms. That settlement, if it goes into effect in April, may have massive impacts on recruiting, the number of scholarships and the transfer market.
Link: Season Previews: Teams #1 to #12
Link: Season Preview: Teams #12 to #25