NEW ROCHELLE, NY— The National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA) announced its first set of national rankings for the 2026 season on Wednesday afternoon. The Iona University Acrobatics & Tumbling team was ranked fifth in the national rankings.
The Maroon & Gold slid down one spot from its ranking of four in the preseason poll . Iona has posted a 3-2 record this season and is in the midst of its closing stretch against four ranked opponents. The Gaels conclude the regular season on the road against No. 3 Quinnipiac on Saturday.
The 2026 NCATA National Championship will take place April 23-26 in Azusa, California hosted by Azusa Pacific University at the Felix Events Center. The top eight-teams compete in a 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. National event finals are scheduled for Sunday morning. The complete bracket and additional event information will be announced in mid-April.
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 2025 championship field and at-large qualifiers for event finals will be released on Monday, April 13.
Iona concludes the 2025 regular season on Saturday, March 28 against No. 3 Quinnipiac at M&T Bank Arena. The meet will begin at 1 p.m. and air on ESPN+.
NCATA NATIONAL RANKINGS (March 25, 2026)
| PLACE |
SCHOOL |
| 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 |
