NCAA W's team: 6 gymnasts compete per event; top 5 scores count toward team total (drop the lowest); NCAA M's team: 5 gymnasts compete per event; all 5 scores count (no drop); Roster: typically 15-20 athletes for D1; only 6 (W's) or 5 (M's) compete per event
Why people argue about this
People often assume that a team can only compete in events with all 6 members if they have rostered 6 gymnasts, forgetting that NCAA rules allow teams to mix gender for competitions as long as there are at least 5 of each gender participating. This leads to misunderstandings about how scores accumulate and who counts towards the team total.
