Collegiate Rifle 101

At the collegiate level, Rifle is contested as both an NCAA-sanctioned sport at the Division I, II, and III levels and as a club sport at over 40 institutions nationwide. The Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference is the only conference which features teams from both categories of collegiate rifle.

Rifle Events

Collegiate Rifle is contested in two events: smallbore rifle and air rifle. At a typical collegiate match, both events will be contested. However, it is permitted to hold a match in only one event if desired. Though uncommon, some teams specialize in air rifle only. For some matches, including most Conference Championships, smallbore and air rifle are contested on separate days over the course of one weekend. 

Shooting Positions

Team Makeup

Roster Size

For NCAA Rifle teams, the roster size is limited to 12 total athletes in Divisions I and II. Collegiate club rifle programs and NCAA DIII programs do not have roster limitations.

Starting Lineup

Five athletes are selected per event as "counters" prior to match firing. These athletes do not have to be the same five for both events; up to ten different athletes could be squadded as "counters" in a single match (five in smallbore and five in air rifle).

Scoring

Individual Scoring

Each single shot is worth up to 10 total points in both smallbore and air rifle. The lowest shot value other than zero for smallbore is 3 points; scores of 1 and 2 are not recorded. In air rifle, the lowest shot value other than zero is 1 point. Both events are a total of 60 shots, making the maximum score per athlete per event 600. "Inner tens" or "X's," which are shots that score above 10.2 on a decimal scale, are recorded by electronic scoring for tiebreaking purposes.

Team Scoring

The starting lineup consists of five "counters" selected prior to match firing in each event. Team scoring is calculated using a "shoot five, count four" method in which the top 4 scores of the five pre-selected starters are recorded in the team total. This results in a maximum of 2400 possible points per event (600 x 4). For matches in which both events are contested, a two-gun aggregate is tabulated with a maximum possible score of 4800 points.

NCAA Rifle 

Regular Season

The regular season consists of a minimum of 8 matches for NCAA Division I and II programs, or 6 matches for NCAA Division III programs, held between September and February. The regular season maximum number of matches is 13, with select exemptions for additional matches such as Conference Championships held prior to NCAA Tournament selections. All NCAA matches are contested in person, or "shoulder-to-shoulder," with no fewer than four athletes per event per team. Regular season scores, rankings, and tournament selection standings can be found at ncaarifle.org.

NCAA Championship Tournament

The NCAA Rifle Tournament is contested annually in March. 

The qualification process for teams is based on a "three-score average," which averages a program's top three two-gun aggregate scores from three unique range locations (home or away) into one score, and an NCAA Qualifying Match score. The NCAA Qualifying Match is fired by all NCAA Rifle teams on the same weekend in mid-to-late February. Both the three-score average and the NCAA Qualifying Match score are added together for an NCAA Tournament selection total out of a maximum 9600 possible points. These scores are then ranked, with the top 8 overall teams earning invitations to the NCAA Championship Tournament.

The qualification process for individuals is based solely on NCAA Qualifying Match scores. Athletes from teams which rank in the top 8 in the selection process are removed. The remaining athletes are then ranked by score on NCAA Qualifying Match day, with the top athletes earning at-large selections to the NCAA Championship Tournament. A total of 8 at-large selections are made, but the total number of athletes selected to compete in each of the two events varies depending on the number of athletes who earn invitations for both events. 

The NCAA Rifle Tournament selections are broadcast annually at www.ncaa.com/sports/rifle.

Collegiate Club Rifle

Regular Season

There is no minimum or maximum number of competitions for Collegiate Club rifle programs. Matches may be fired at any time during the school year. Conference championship tournaments and the Intercollegiate Rifle Club National Championship tournament are typically held in March and April. Matches between club programs may be fired either in person, or via "postal" in which each team fires the match in a separate location (either alone or with other opponents) and scores are then combined from all participating teams.

Intercollegiate Rifle Club National Championship

The American Smallbore Shooters Association hosts the Intercollegiate Rifle Club National Championship annually in April. Athletes may attend as individuals or as a team. There is no centralized qualification process to enter the tournament. More information and results from the Intercollegiate Rifle Club National Championship can be found at the ASSA website.