With the 2026 NCATA National Championships just under a month away from April 23-26 in Azusa, California, the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) announced its first set of national rankings on Wednesday afternoon.
 
This year's championship will be hosted by Azusa Pacific University at the Felix Events Center. The eight-team, single-elimination tournament will begin on Thursday, April 23 with four quarterfinal matchups. The semifinals are set for Friday evening, while the National Championship meet will be contested on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. National event finals are scheduled for Sunday morning. The complete bracket and additional event information will be announced in early- to mid-April.
 
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The ten-time defending national champion Baylor Bears topped the first set of championship rankings on Wednesday. The Bears are currently 7-0 on the season and have the association's highest scoring average this season. Oregon, ranked No. 2 this week, is 4-1 on the season with a scoring average over 270 on the season. Quinnipiac checked in at No. 3 with a 3-1 record, while unbeaten Fairmont State ranks fourth at 6-0. Iona (3-2) rounds out the top five after making the tournament for the first time a season ago.
 
Augustana is 5-1 on the season and sits at No. 6, followed by Gannon (5-2) and Saint Leo (6-1). Duquesne and Azusa Pacific round out the top 10. Glenville State, Lander, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Wingate and Hawaii Pacific check in at No. 11-15, respectively.
 
The NCATA championships committee considers the overall performance of teams throughout the season thus far and utilized the following criteria to consider team rankings: W/L record, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, common opponents, average meet score (adjusted to remove high/low), average meet start value (adjusted to remove high/low), score differential (adjusted to remove high/low) and the teams' progression throughout the season.
 
Two more sets of regular season rankings will be released on April 1 and April 8. The 2026 championship field and at-large qualifiers for event finals will be released on Monday, April 13.
 
NCATA National Rankings (Regular Season Release #1 - March 25, 2026)

1. Baylor University
2. University of Oregon
3. Quinnipiac University
4. Fairmont State University
5. Iona University
6. Augustana University
7. Gannon University
8. Saint Leo University
9. Duquesne University
10. Azusa Pacific University
11. Glenville State University
12. Lander University
13. University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
14. Wingate University
15. Hawaii Pacific University

 * The top 8 teams in final ranking will qualify for 2026 NCATA National Championships
** Results as of 3/22/26 considered in this week's rankings
*** Next set of rankings will be released on Wednesday, April 1, 2026