diff --git a/src/components/admin/round/ranking-dashboard.tsx b/src/components/admin/round/ranking-dashboard.tsx
index c835f0c..bb317e3 100644
--- a/src/components/admin/round/ranking-dashboard.tsx
+++ b/src/components/admin/round/ranking-dashboard.tsx
@@ -425,7 +425,12 @@ export function RankingDashboard({ competitionId: _competitionId, roundId }: Ran
       const dedupedStartup = dedup(startup)
       const dedupedConcept = dedup(concept)
 
-      // Track original AI order for override detection (same effect = always in sync)
+      // Sort by compositeScore descending — ensures display order matches the formula
+      // regardless of how the snapshot was originally generated (AI vs formula).
+      dedupedStartup.sort((a, b) => b.compositeScore - a.compositeScore)
+      dedupedConcept.sort((a, b) => b.compositeScore - a.compositeScore)
+
+      // Track original order for override detection (same effect = always in sync)
       const order: Record<string, number> = {}
       dedupedStartup.forEach((r, i) => { order[r.projectId] = i + 1 })
       dedupedConcept.forEach((r, i) => { order[r.projectId] = i + 1 })
@@ -938,10 +943,17 @@ export function RankingDashboard({ competitionId: _competitionId, roundId }: Ran
 
                 let cutoffIndex = -1
                 if (isThresholdMode) {
-                  // Find the LAST index in the list where the project meets the threshold
-                  for (let i = localOrder[category].length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-                    const e = rankingMap.get(localOrder[category][i])
-                    if ((e?.avgGlobalScore ?? 0) >= threshold) { cutoffIndex = i; break }
+                  // Find the FIRST project that does NOT meet the threshold — cutoff goes before it.
+                  // Works correctly when list is sorted by compositeScore (which correlates with avgGlobalScore).
+                  const firstFailIdx = localOrder[category].findIndex((id) => {
+                    const e = rankingMap.get(id)
+                    return (e?.avgGlobalScore ?? 0) < threshold
+                  })
+                  if (firstFailIdx === -1) {
+                    // All meet threshold — cutoff after the last one
+                    cutoffIndex = localOrder[category].length - 1
+                  } else if (firstFailIdx > 0) {
+                    cutoffIndex = firstFailIdx - 1
                   }
                 } else if (advanceCount > 0) {
                   cutoffIndex = advanceCount - 1