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Data Points: Average Scores for NCAA Championship Finishes

Braden Keith
by Braden Keith 2

October 04th, 2018 College

As we’ve rolled our first NCAA Division I power rankings of the 2018-2018 (which you can find here and here), it’s helpful to have an idea of just how many points it typically takes for a team to earn a particular place in the overall team rankings.

This is something we keep an eye on as we develop our power rankings, as while they’re somewhat subjective, we do try to keep them grounded in reality.  So, ideally, if we say a team is ranked 10th, that means there should be a path for them to score the roughly 150 points it takes, on average, to earn 10th at NCAAs.  A top 20 team will typically earn at least 50 points.

Obviously, there’s going to be some variance from year-to-year.  Years where one team totally dominates (e.g., Texas men 2016-2017 and Stanford women 2017-2018) typically means less points for the 2nd-5th place teams.  Last year, for instance, the Florida men finished 5th with 347 points, which was just a few points behind the 349 and 351 points that the Cal men earned in 2nd place finishes in 2017 and 2016.

Still, the data below should give you a decent idea of how many points it should take for a team to crack into any particular tier at the NCAA championships.

Men’s Points Per Place, 2016-2018

2018 2017 2016 Average
1st 449 542 541.5 510.8
2nd 437.5 349 351 379.2
3rd 422 294.5 334 350.2
4th 385 272.5 313 323.5
5th 347 242 239.5 276.2
6th 253 227 225 235.0
7th 205 229.5 188 207.5
8th 168.5 183 184 178.5
9th 156 179.5 180.5 172.0
10th 129 153.5 167 149.8
11th 123 143.5 164.5 143.7
12th 98.5 127.5 158 128.0
13th 95 106.5 117 106.2
14th 75 100 112.5 95.8
15th 67 99 91 85.7
16th 64 87 87 79.3
17th 60 82 71 71.0
18th 58 63 53 58.0
19th 54 58.5 44.5 52.3
20th 45 55 41 47.0
21st 42 51 40 44.3
22nd 31 48 31 36.7
23rd 29 43 31 34.3
24th 29 36.5 26 30.5
25th 29 29 20 26.0

Women’s Point Per Place, 2016-2018

2018 2017 2016 Average
1st 593 526.5 414 511.2
2nd 373 366 395 378.0
3rd 299 292.5 358 316.5
4th 267 252.5 309 276.2
5th 232 252 264 249.3
6th 221.5 194.5 244.5 220.2
7th 180.5 194 228 200.8
8th 169 185 220 191.3
9th 161 176 155 164.0
10th 157 168 150 158.3
11th 135 159 139 144.3
12th 127 149 120 132.0
13th 123 135 111 123.0
14th 97 106 84 95.7
15th 86 98 79 87.7
16th 82.5 89.5 70 80.7
17th 78 73 68 73.0
18th 70 55 66 63.7
19th 51 52 63.5 55.5
20th 46 48 56 50.0
21st 46 40 49 45.0
22nd 40 35 40 38.3
23rd 34 33 35 34.0
24th 33 30 33 32.0
25th 32 29 23 28.0

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Nilesh
6 years ago

I didn’t realize last years meet was decided by 1 a final swim and 1 b final swim

Hoosier Eli
6 years ago

This is great info. Thank you.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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