In NCAA gymnastics, execution is paramount to an athlete’s success on the floor, thanks in large part to the use of the 10.0 system. Gymnasts strive for perfection and look to minimize form deductions as much as possible, and difficulty often takes a back seat as a result.

At the same time, the NCAA's top athletes will also aim to include high difficulty in their routines without sacrificing on execution. In fact, taking into account all composition requirements, routines on bars, beam, and floor all start from a 9.5. Gymnasts are required to achieve bonus points to get to the 10.0 start value, and they do this by adding in difficult skills and connections. "D" level skills get an extra 0.10 in bonus, while "E" skills get an extra 0.20. In addition, connection bonus is determined differently on each event. Gymnasts can only receive a maximum of +0.40 in bonus from connections and +0.40 from D/E skills.

Ever wondered which teams have the most difficulty in their lineups? We took a look at the lineups from the Super Six teams this year and ranked them by difficulty. For the purposes of this exercise, we ignored any falls that took place and tried to take into account the gymnast’s intended routine from Super Six Finals. 

Check out our rankings for uneven bars below.

1. Florida

The Florida Gators had the most even distribution of difficulty across D and E skills and connection value, and they had the most connection bonus in their lineup out of all of the Super Six teams. Freshmen Megan Skaggs and Jazmyn Foberg were two of the best in the lineup for connection bonus in their routines. Skaggs racked up +0.30 for her toe-on to Tkatchev to Pak Salto combination, while Foberg had three D skills (Pak Salto, Maloney and Gienger) plus bonus for connecting her toe-on to Pak and Maloney to Gienger. 

Sophomore Amelia Hundley also totaled +0.30 in connection bonus in her routine, in addition to having two D skills (Pak and Maloney). She also is one of three on the team to compete an E level single bar release, a Van Leeuwen, with the others being Rachel Gowey and Alex McMurtry, both of whom compete a Ray.

Check out the full breakdown below:  

"E" Skills - Total: 9 x 0.20 = 1.8

1. Double layout dismount (Alicia Boren, Gowey, Skaggs)
2. Full twisting double back (Foberg, Hundley, McMurtry)
3. Ray II (Gowey, McMurtry)
4. Van Leeuwen (Hundley)

“D" Skills - Total: 11 x 0.10 = 1.1

1. Tkatchev (Boren, Skaggs)
2. Overshoot (Boren, McMurtry)
3. Pak Salto (Foberg, Gowey, Hundley, Skaggs)
4. Maloney (Foberg, Hundley)
5. Gienger (Foberg)

Connection Value - Total: 1.2

1. Boren: Clear hip (C) + Overshoot (D) = +0.10
2. Foberg: Toe-on (C) + Pak Salto (D) = +0.10, Maloney (D) + Gienger (D) = +0.20
3. Gowey: Toe-on (C) + Pak Salto (D) = +0.10
4. Hundley: Maloney (D) + Pak Sato (D) = +0.20, Toe-on (C) + Van Leeuwen (E) = +0.10
5. McMurtry: Overshoot (D) + Ray I (C) = +0.10
6. Skaggs: Toe-on (C) + Tkatchev (D) + Pak Salto (D) = +0.30

TOTAL BONUS: 4.1

2. Oklahoma

Oklahoma garnered the majority of their bonus on bars through E skills; in fact, they had the most out of all of the Super Six teams with seven different E skills competed by various gymnasts in their lineup. Sophomore Maggie Nichols had the most E skills in her routine, including a Church and Van Leeuwen. 

Stefani Catour, Brenna Dowell, Bre Showers, and Anastasia Webb all included an E skill in addition to their dismounts. Catour and Dowell competed Rays, Webb competed a Van Leeuwen, and Showers competed a unique Shushunova. For connection bonus, every gymnast in the lineup hit at least +0.10 in bonus in their routines, with the exception of Showers who did not receive any bonus. Nichols had the most out of the lineup with +0.20 from her Pak to toe-on to Van Leeuwen.  

Check out the full breakdown:

"E" Skills - Total: 12 x 0.20 = 2.4

1. Ray II (Catour, Dowell)
2. Double Layout Dismount (Catour, Dowell, Nichols)
3. Full twisting double back (Nicole Lehrmann, Showers)
4. Church (Nichols)
5. Van Leeuwen (Nichols, Webb)
6. Shushunova (Showers)
7. Double front dismount (Webb)

“D" Skills - Total: 7 x 0.10 = 0.70

1. Overshoot (Catour, Dowell, Lehrmann, Showers)
2. Jaeger (Lehrmann)
3. Pak Salto (Nichols, Webb)

Connection Value - Total: 0.60

1. Catour: Toe-on (C) + Overshoot (D) = +0.10
2. Dowell: Toe-on (C) + Overshoot (D) = +0.10
3. Lehrmann: Toe-on (C) + Overshoot (D) = +0.10
4. Nichols: Pak Salto (D) + Toe-on (C) + Van Leeuwen (E) = +0.20
5. Webb: Toe-on (C) + Double front dismount (E) = +0.10

TOTAL BONUS: 3.7

3. UCLA

UCLA had one of the most impressive lineups on bars, with Olympians Madison Kocian, Kyla Ross, and Peng Peng Lee contributing big skills. Unsurprisingly, a huge portion of their total team difficulty came from Lee, who competed four E skills: a Van Leeuwen, Ray, Bhardwaj, and a double layout dismount. 

Ross also contributed a lot in bonus, with +0.30 in connection bonus for her Maloney to overshoot to Ray I. For D skills, Anna Glenn notched the most for the team with a Jaeger, Pak, and giant 1/1. 

Check out the full breakdown below:

"E" Skills - Total: 8 x 0.20 = 1.6

1. Double layout dismount (Nia Dennis, Lee, Ross)
2. Full twisting double back (JaNay Honest, Kocian)
3. Van Leeuwen (Lee)
4. Ray II (Lee)
5. Bhardwaj (Lee)

“D" Skills - Total: 9 x 0.10 = 0.90

1. Maloney (Dennis, Kocian, Ross)
2. Overshoot (Dennis, Ross)
3. Jaeger (A. Glenn)
4. Pak Salto (A. Glenn)
5. Giant 1/1 (A. Glenn)
6. Tkatchev (Honest)

Connection Value - Total: 1.0

1. Dennis: Maloney (D) + Overshoot (D) = +0.20
2. Glenn: Giant 1/1 (D) + Double tuck dismount (C)= +0.10 
3. Honest: Giant 1/2 (C) + Straddle back (C) = +0.10
4. Kocian: Maloney (D) + Pak Salto (D) = +0.20
5. Lee: Toe-on (C) + Van Leeuwen (E) = +0.10
6. Ross: Maloney (D) + Overshoot (D) + Ray I (C) = +0.30

TOTAL BONUS: 3.5

4T. LSU

LSU ties for fourth place and was one of the strongest bar teams in the country this year. Three gymnasts in the lineup competed a single bar release E skill: Myia Hambrick, Sarah Finnegan, and Kennedi Edney. 

The remaining three—Sami Durante, Lexie Priessman, and Ruby Harrold—compete two D skills in their routines. Hambrick and Priessman racked up the most points in connection bonus, with Hambrick garnering +0.20 for her giant 1/1 to overshoot to Ray I, and Priessman garnering the same for her Tkatchev to Pak. 

Check out the full breakdown below: 

"E" Skills - Total: 9 x 0.20 = 1.8

1. Full twisting double back (Durante, Hambrick)
2. Ray II (Hambrick, Finnegan)
3. Hindorff (Edney)
4. Double layout dismount (Edney, Priessman, Finnegan)
5. Double front dismount (Harrold)

“D" Skills - Total: 8 x 0.1 = 0.80

1. Jaeger (Durante, Harrold)
2. Pak Salto (Durante, Priessman)
3. Overshoot (Hambrick, Edney)
4. Zuchold (Harrold)
5. Tkatchev (Priessman)

Connection Value - Total: 0.70

1. Hambrick: Giant 1/1 (C) + Overshoot (D) + Ray I (C) = +0.20
2. Edney: Clear hip (C) + Overshoot (D) = +0.10
3. Harrold: Toe-on (C) + Jaeger (D) = +0.10
4. Priessman: Tkatchev (D) + Pak Salto (D) = +0.20
5. Finnegan: Toe-on (C) + Overshoot (D) = +0.10

TOTAL BONUS: 3.3

4T. Utah

Tied with LSU for fourth is Utah, with a lineup that had the most D skills in their routines out of any Super Six team. Kari Lee is the only Ute who competed a single bar E skill—a piked Jaeger—and is one of two gymnasts who competed a simpler double tuck dismount. 

Tiffani Lewis and Makenna Merrell-Giles both competed three D-skills, including Merrell-Giles’ unique Deltchev release. MyKayla Skinner’s short but sweet routine included the most connection bonus. She got +0.20 for her Maloney to overshoot and an additional +0.10 for connecting a toe-on to her dismount. 

See the full breakdown below: 

"E" Skills - Total: 5 x 0.20 = 1.0

1. Piked Jaeger (Lee)
2. Double Layout (Lewis)
3. Full twisting double back dismount (Missy Reinstadtler, Skinner, Kim Tessen)

“D" Skills - Total: 13 x 0.10 = 1.3

1. L grip giant (Lee)
2. Giant 1/1 (Lewis)
3. Tkatchev (Lewis)
4. Overshoot (Lewis, Merrell-Giles, Reinstadtler, Skinner, Tessen)
5. Deltchev (Merrell-Giles)
6. Stalder (Merrell-Giles)
7. Jaeger (Reinstadtler, Tessen)
8. Maloney (Skinner)

Connection Value - Total: 1.0

1. Lee: Piked Jaeger (E) + Shoot over (C) = +0.10, Giant in L grip (D) + Double tuck dismount (C) = +0.10
2. Lewis: Giant 1/1 (D) + Tkatchev (D) = +0.20
3. Merrell-Giles: Toe-on (C) + Deltchev (D) = +0.10, Stalder (D) + Double tuck dismount (C) = +0.10
4. Reinstadtler: Toe-on (C) + Jaeger (D) = +0.10
5. Skinner: Maloney (D) + Overshoot (D) = +0.20, Toe-on (C) + Full twisting double back dismount (E) = +0.10

TOTAL BONUS: 3.3

6. Nebraska

Nebraska made history this year by making it to the Super Six, and they are right up there with the top teams in terms of difficulty. They tied with Florida for having the second-most D skills in their routines. Sophomore Taylor Houchin competed the most, with two giant1/1s and a Tkatchev. Junior Sienna Crouse competed a unique Weiler kip in addition to a Gienger for her release. 

Houchin and Crouse also had the most connection value in the lineup, both adding +0.30 in their routines. Houchin competed a giant 1/1 to Tkatchev, in addition to a giant 1/1 to her double tuck dismount. Crouse impressively connected her Weiler kip to Gienger to shoot over.

See the full breakdown below:

"E" Skills - Total: 6 x 0.20 = 1.2

1. Double Layout Dismount (Danielle Breen, Abbie Epperson, Kynsee Roby)
2. Full twisting double back dismount (Crouse)
3. Piked Jaeger (Roby, Megan Schweihofer)

“D" Skills - Total: 11 x 0.1 = 1.1

1. Jaeger (Breen, Epperson)
2. Overshoot (Breen, Epperson, Houchin)
3. Weiler Kip (Crouse)
4. Gienger (Crouse)
5. Giant 1/1 (Houchin x2)
6. Tkatchev (Houchin)
7. Pak Salto (Roby)

Connection Value - Total: 0.70

1. Crouse: Weiler Kip (D) + Gienger (D) + Shoot over (C) = +0.30
2. Houchin: Giant 1/1 (D) + Tkatchev (D) = +0.20, Giant 1/1 (D) + Double tuck dismount (C) = +0.10
3. Schweihofer: Piked Jaeger (E) + Shootover (C) = +0.10

TOTAL BONUS: 3.0