In college gymnastics, conference titles come with only two things: a trophy and bragging rights. The playoff picture has nothing to do with conferences, but is instead determined by a team’s national qualifying score (NQS).
Conferences are used mainly to dictate regular-season matchups. Penn State will only face seven nonconference opponents in 2025, but wins and losses also have little impact on the broader college gymnastics landscape. At the end of the day, it’s all about the scores.
A team’s NQS is calculated by dropping its highest score and averaging the remaining top five. There is one caveat — at least three of the six total scores considered must come from away meets.