Last season, the LSU Tigers closed the regular season with a commanding NQS of 198.125, securing the No. 2 spot heading into the conference championships. In early March 2025, they set a program record with 198.575 home score against Georgia. They competed in five meets at home and six away this season. But now, the landscape appears shifting. Because NQS has changed the rules.

The National Collegiate Women’s Gymnastics Committee has announced that the three proposed rules that were put forward before the Administrative Subcommittee of the NCAA Division I Cabinet have now been approved by the committee. They will take effect from the upcoming 2026 season, which starts in early January. The reimaging of the National Qualifying Score brings more shake-up to how gymnastics is calculated.

So, what has changed?

Under the new scheme, instead of relying on a fixed six-meet window, the teams will now log at least nine meets for the scores to be considered. However, there’s a catch to this system.

Only five home scores are allowed to make the cut. So, what if a team competes in more than five home meets?

According to the new rule, their strongest home performance will be disregarded, and only the five lowest home scores will be used for calculations.

This measure has been taken up to prevent teams from padding their ranking advantage by competing overly in their home turf. In short, away performance now carries a heavier weight.

Out of the minimum nine meets, the teams will now have to compete in five meets away from home to ensure scoring eligibility.

Once all the scores are locked in, the new rule will discard both the highest and the lowest scores, and the remaining numbers will be averaged. The final figure will become the official NQS used for ranking and postseason qualification.

In a nutshell, the calculation will now follow like this:

• Take a maximum of five home meet scores (if six or more, keep the lowest five).
• Include all away meet scores (must have at least five).
• Drop the highest and lowest scores from the combined list.
• Average the remaining scores to get the NQS.

But this rule doesn’t apply to the individual NQS scores. That will be calculated using the old NQS only. The new formula will be applied only to the teams.

The old NQS rules certainly helped LSU Tigers in clinching the team SEC I title after they defeated Auburn, scoring 198.200 in the finale, sharing the title with Oklahoma.

Now, with the new rules, what does it mean for the teams?

How will teams like the LSU Tigers feel the change?

Teams will not be able to compete in “cushion” meets, where they could perform however they want. Now, the safety net is gone.

Previously, teams could stumble early, then warm up and recover slowly, and then come back, accumulating strong late-season scores in both home and away conditions to build a healthy NQS before the postseason meet began. However, under the new rule, every single meet will matter, and even the most sloppy, low-scoring ones will also count in the final average scoring.

The new rule states that any home score beyond the five-meet limit won’t just be ignored  – it will replace an existing score, if lower. And because the lowest five home scores are the ones that stay, a team can actually hurt itself by improving.

Here’s a scenario: If the LSU Tigers post a 198 in its fifth home meet but then drops to a 197 in its sixth, that weaker 197 doesn’t get thrown out — it replaces the higher 198 in the five-count group. Brutal? Absolutely.

This new formula doesn’t care about your late-season surges, but rather a season-long discipline. Coming into force in January, it’s about to rock the standings, but the question is how much?