The Mount: Conference Champs

​The conference championships are here! The conference championships are here! Not only will we get to watch some of the premiere matchups in the country with the “big four” conference championships, we’ll also get the opportunity to see the final regional outlook shape up as the final few spots will fill and solidify. With all DI championships being held Saturday, it’ll be a busy day, so buckle up and practice your multitasking. As always, find an updated injury report, previews of the upcoming meets, our predictions on the top matchups and all the links you could possibly need, so you can plan out exactly which meets you’ll be watching on which devices and when.

Out of Action or Questionable for Week 11

• Alabama: Keely McNeer (broken pinky, out at least two weeks)
• Arkansas: Amanda Wellick (torn Achilles), Sarah Shaffer (elbow injury, according to Arkansas meet notes), Mia Bargiacchi (potential knee injury last week, unable to complete floor)
• Auburn: Telah Black (unknown, out for 2017 season), Sarah Garcia (hip surgery), Abby Milliet (knee injury, out for 2017 season according to SEC Network)
• California: Dana Ho (torn ACL/MCL, out for 2017 season), Cassidy Keelen (dislocated kneecap, questionable for rest of season), Sylvie Seilnacht (broken bone in foot tripping over backpack), Toni-Ann Williams (torn Achilles tendon, out for 2017 season)
• Kentucky: Sydney Waltz (medically retired)
• New Hampshire: Makenzie Kerouac (ankle surgery)
• Sacramento State: Annie Juarez (ankle)
• SEMO: Kenna Skepnek (left knee brace – Oct. 2016)
• Stanford: Dani McNair (ankle injury in warmups last week), Aleeza Yu (concussion in warmups last week)
• West Virginia: Tiara Wright (knee injury)

Session 1: Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Rutgers: 12 p.m. ET
After a hard-fought battle, these teams ultimately missed out on the chance to compete in the evening session of the Big 10 Championship. However, they didn’t lose the opportunity to compete for the conference title. While it will be harder to surpass one of the six teams in the evening session, it’s not impossible. Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota and Rutgers will all compete with Rutgers entertaining a home crowd and hoping to get a bit of extra confidence and energy from that. Minnesota probably has the best chance of finishing out of the bottom four, though, as it was shown it’s capable of putting up a strong 196 at various points this season. However, the Gophers have also been susceptible to things completely unraveling if a mistake happens as we saw happen at the Big Five meet last weekend which forces the team to settle with the afternoon session. Outside of conference aspirations, regionals are also still a big driving force for Minnesota and Maryland as both teams are still in the running for the remaining five open spots. Minnesota sits outside the top 36 at No. 37 while Maryland holds on by the skin of its teeth at No. 35. A solid performance at Big 10s can only help their cause.Session2: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State: 5 p.m. ET
The night session of the Big 10 Championship is all about Michigan. The strongest team by far, the Wolverines just need to perform how they have in recent meets—and all season at home—to easily take the title. However, a slip up here or there, like many of the team’s away meets this year, and the title is up for grabs. If one of those mistakes does occur, Nebraska is poised with a good chance of taking advantage. The team has hit 197 multiple times and is capable of doing it in Piscataway. However, freshman phenom Taylor Houchin did not compete at the Big Five meet. Whether she was just resting or was out with an injury is unknown, but the Huskers will want her back if they want to challenge. Penn State, while always pushing toward a conference title, is more concerned with solidifying its spot at regionals as it sits at No. 32 and is one of a handful of teams yet to be locked into the top 36. Finally, Ohio State, Illinois and Iowa will also be competing in the second session for the championship—each with things to clean up after big Fives if they want to potentially challenge.

Caroline: Michigan for the win. I’d say Nebraska and Illinois finish out the podium. Iowa and Ohio State will be in it too, but unless one of those top three has a bad day, the latter two will likely come up short.
Christina: I give Michigan the win, followed by Nebraska and Illinois.
Elizabeth: Michigan got its road self together last week, so I’m going Michigan. Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and even Penn State will battle it out for the remaining podium spots, though.

Denver, Iowa State, Oklahoma, West Virginia: 5 p.m. ET
The Sooners are coming in once again as the shoo-ins to claim the title this year. The defending Big 12 and national champions have had an undefeated season and boast a gigantic, program-record RQS of 198.000. Their freshman phenom Maggie Nichols has been nursing a sore knee over the last few meets and has been limited to only one or two events (yet she managed to wrap up her gymslam during that time!). It would be great for Nichols to compete in the all-around here, but the Sooners have shown they can do just fine without her. The one meet she was being rested at was their second highest scoring meet of the season and on the road, showcasing their depths and precise gymnastics. Chayse Capps, AJ Jackson, Brenna Dowell, Nicole Lehrmann, Natalie Brown or Charity Jones are just as stellar and will come in ready to carry their team towards another conference championship. It will take the Sooners a 198.100 here to set a new national RQS record. Difficult during postseason, but if anybody can do it, it’s Oklahoma. Denver is still the new kid on the block in this conference as this will be only the second year the Pioneers compete in the Big 12. They will realistically not challenge for the title – Oklahoma’s lowest score of the season is still three tenths higher than Denver’s highest -, but they still will put up great performances. The Pioneers have their own freshman phenom in Maddie Karr who has been competing all-around every single week for them. Fellow freshman Sam Ogden has also been stellar, consistently contributing top scores on bars and beam. This has been a season of exceeding expectations for the Pioneers, as many thought the team would take a dip in the rankings after losing Nina McGee to graduation and with such a small roster. Yet, they have shown us that there is no reason to worry, and the Pioneers will likely finish with a #2 seed for regionals and as favorites to qualify to nationals. The fight for the third and fourth place in Frisco will be quite interesting between West Virginia and Iowa State. The Mountaineers are currently ranked higher than the Cyclones, but the Cyclones’ highest score is higher than the Mountaineers’ (196.600 scored on the road to a 196.300 scored at home) and they are peaking at about the right time. It will come down to who hits under pressure at the right time for these two teams. West Virginia’s team has been led by sophomores Kirah Koshinski, junior Zaakira Muhammad and senior Alexa Goldberg. Koshinski has been going over 9.9 frequently on vault and floor through the season, while Muhammad has recently made her debut in the all around and has done remarkably well. Goldberg is a consistent three-eventer and has found her groove on the uneven bars. For senior-less Iowa State, the leader is undoubtedly Haylee Young who has been in the all around all season and is just coming off her season high of 39.525. In addition, Kelsey Paz has been a consistent all arounder for the Cyclones as well, and 2016 vault national qualifier Meaghan Sievers has been a solid three-eventer throughout the year. Sydney Converse also just made her return to the vault lineup after an injury from the fall and is a strong addition there as the team is heading into postseason. While West Virginia has a slight edge over Iowa State, we shouldn’t count them out yet.Caroline: This one’s a no-brainer: OU. I expect a strong showing from Denver, but even on their best day, the Pios likely won’t come close to beating the Sooners.
Christina: The only way OU doesn’t win this one is if ¾ of the team gets super sick and is unable to compete.
Elizabeth: OU obv. But I’m actually interested in seeing Iowa State and West Virginia battle it out for third.

Session 1: Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, California: 4 p.m. ET
The Pac-12 situation is quite interesting this year. Arizona and Arizona State have each had up-and-down seasons, which started slow but featured some very bright spots along the way, including two 196s for the Wildcats and an upset win/highest score in over two years/first conference win in over two years meet for the Sundevils. Both have something to be proud about in 2017 despite struggles, hardship and adversity along the way. While both of those teams probably won’t challenge for the title, the two remaining in the afternoon session might. California was thisclose to qualifying to the night session but was just edged out by Washington in the last weekend of the regular season. But the Golden Bears have come on strong in the past few weekends, scoring in the high-196-197 range, even without a good handful of key gymnasts who are out with injury. The team can definitely challenge for a top four finish. Stanford is the other interesting factor in this session. Things started in January status quo for the Cardinal, a couple of low meets with expectations to bounce back as always. However, the team didn’t bounce back but rather suffered injury after injury, keeping it back in the rankings and, at one point, wary about even making regionals. However, if we’ve learned from past experiences, never count Stanford out. Even if it has scored a 193 more often than 197 in 2017. Knowing the Cardinal, it will come into its home arena, bust out a “where was THAT all season long” and finish in the top four. But even if that doesn’t happen, there’s still Elizabeth Price, who really is the most at a disadvantage from the afternoon session out of all the competitors. Able to put up big numbers any place, any time, Price often gets low balled during regular season meets, not to mention at the non-premiere sessions of conference champs. But last year she still managed to tie for the bars event title despite the circumstances. Fans will have to wait to see what she can put together on Saturday, if she’ll be back in the all around after preseason knee surgery and if we’ll finally see the double-twisting Yurchenko debuted for the first time in 2017.

Session 2: Oregon State, UCLA, Utah, Washington: 9 p.m. ET
With all of these teams locked into regionals and in a good position heading into the next phase of postseason, this meet is all about that conference title. UCLA will be salivating for a rematch with Utah after the somewhat interesting judging performance we saw in Salt Lake City earlier this season. The Utes have tapered off in recent meets, not getting the score they were hoping for at Georgia. But this will be an opportunity for the team to show the UCLA meet wasn’t a fluke and the recent meet at Georgia was just and off competition before gearing back up for the postseason. While the title will most likely go to one of those two teams, Oregon State could make things interesting if either slips up. The Beavers have done quite well in 2017 and are coming off a strong senior night performance which featured a Kaytianna McMillan perfect 10 on bars. The team will also look to position itself as ideally as possible to make it as easy to advance to nationals. Washington should celebrate for just making it into the night session. But it’ll also want to do as well as possible to hold off the teams behind it in the rankings and give itself as “easy” a set of opponents as possible so that an upset won’t be out of the realm of possibility. Also up for grabs at the championship will be individual event titles, all-conference awards and yearly conference awards, such as freshman of the year, gymnast of the year and coach of the year.

Caroline: This is tough. It’s going to be between UCLA and Utah, and I think it’s going to come down to who hits beam and floor better, and how much difficulty and name-brand bonus the judges are giving out. I’m gonna go UCLA tentatively, but would not be surprised to see a Utah upset with more even-keeled scoring or a botched Bruin beam.
Christina: Tough one… UCLA has been competing at home 4 out of the last 5 times, so I fully expect its scores to come back down to Earth. I’ll give this one to Utah, for the upset! I trust the Utes’ consistency and settled lineups for this championship.
Elizabeth: I’m going with UCLA. It’s the stronger team and Utah won’t have the crazy judges on its side this time around.

Session 1: Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Missouri: 2 p.m. ET
Contrary to previous years, the fight in the morning session is likely going to be between Kentucky and Missouri fighting it out for the top score to try to upset the later-seeded teams. While both teams are capable of big scores, and Kentucky actually beat Alabama earlier this year, being in the afternoon session will be a big disadvantage, because the judges won’t be willing to give away bigger scores so early in the game. Both teams will have to absolutely be on their game – landings, handstands, split positions, the whole nine yards – if they really want to force the judges’ hands. Auburn and Arkansas, at this point, are just looking to hit 24 for 24. With their depth depleted, injuries abounding, and low difficulty, these teams will aim for clean meets and decent scores to keep their RQS moving upward into Regionals.Session 2: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU: 6 p.m. ET
With these four teams, we’re definitely in for a good meet. These night session stalwarts have all won SEC championships in the past, though some more than others. Alabama and Georgia have the most storied programs, but they come in here as the underdogs. Both teams have had their issues this season, dealing with injury mitigation and lineup roulette, but both have stabilized into serious competitors for postseason. If it can make a good push here, Alabama could actually sneak up to No. 5 in its final meet before regionals. Georgia will want a big hit if at all possible, because though it could climb to No. 7, the teams beneath it are definitely capable of passing, causing the Gymdogs to drop into potentially a less desirable regional situation. The two frontrunners for the title, though, are Florida and LSU. LSU has actually gone 36 years without an SEC Championship title, believe it or not, despite ultimately beating Florida and Alabama at Super Six last year. It would be huge for the Tigers to finally end that drought and win it in D-D’s 40th year. Performing as they have all year, that’s definitely doable, but the reason that drought exists in the first place, at least in recent years, is because they always seem to have a hiccup at this competition in particular. Eliminating that will be the key to a Tiger win. But looking to stop them will be the Florida Gators, who need a big total in order to reclaim the No. 3 spot over UCLA. They’ll want to finally find their “premiere lineup” for beam, as coach Jenny Rowland said last week, and really nail their vault landings to really give LSU (and UCLA) a run for their money.

Caroline: I’m honestly shocked to see Georgia climb above Kentucky for the final spot in the evening session, but pleasantly so. Good for them, getting back on track after such a rough start to season. Anyway, I have to go with LSU on this one. The Gators and the Tide should put up a good fight, but I’m betting on the Tigers.
Christina: Arh, this is hard. I will give it to LSU, but would not be one bit surprised if Florida or Bama grab the title. Although Florida is suffering a bit from its lack of depths and a few injuries and sickness, and Bama hasn’t really had fixed lineups yet which is a bit worrisome at point in the season. But as we say, never count Bama out.
Elizabeth: Oh man… I going to be completely outlandish and choose Alabama so that when the Tide shocks literally everyone and wins, I’ll have this as proof.

Other Notable Conference Championships
EAGL Championship: 2 p.m. ET
George Washington, New Hampshire, North Carolina, N.C. State, Pittsburgh, Towson
This meet is really George Washington’s to lose. However, some other teams will give the Colonials a run for their money if they falter even the slightest. GW has been a consistent 196 team this season with only one 194 thrown in. New Hampshire is really the only other team to be able to say that although with less 196s along the way. North Carolina is also a strong contender, the team’s threshold is more in the 195 range. But although the conference title is on the line and that holds a lot of clout with the universities, the more pressing thing for George Washington is remaining a seeded team in the regionals picture. Currently sitting in a precarious 18th, the team will need to put up as big a number as possible with Southern Utah on its tail and a higher RQS threshold than the Colonials. However, the championship will be held at N.C. State, the place where George Washington produced its season high of 196.725 a few weeks ago. So the familiar environment may help the Colonials to not only the title but a seeded regionals placement as well. As for the rest of the teams in the EAGL, Pittsburgh, N.C. State and Towson will only really challenge with a little help from their conference friends. The Wolfpack has had some highs this season but also some dismal performances, including a 191 that featured three of four rotation totals in the 47-range. That won’t do the job if it wants to show up in front of the home crowd. Pittsburgh has been a team of average success, hitting meets for 193 and 194 for most of the season. And finally, Towson—a team which drew attention to start 2017 when a number of its beam workers scored 9.9 or above. While the whole package isn’t there, the Tigers could seek a couple of individual accolades if they hit when it counts.MRGC Championship: 8 p.m. ET
Boise State, BYU, Southern Utah, Utah State
This competition ought to be even more interesting than in previous years, thanks to the amazing trajectories of these four teams this season. Boise State has been breaking record after record, reaching its highest national ranking in program history (No. 7) and its highest team total (197.675). They’ll be the biggest threat coming into this meet, with strong bars and beam sets and a lineup of floor routines with difficulty comparable to some of the top SEC teams. Southern Utah’s no slouch either, as the Thunderbirds have snuck into the Top 20 this year and scored the program’s first perfect 10.0 last week. SUU actually only needs a 196.325 to clinch themselves a seeded spot (Nos. 1-18) at regionals, which is well within the realm of possibility. Utah State does not have a chance at moving up to be seeded, but it will definitely look to have one of its stronger meets to propel them forward into regionals, which it’s already guaranteed to make. The Aggies will want to capitalize on its stronger events, bars and floor, in order to fight for the title and a high score. Finally, the BYU Cougars are still on the bubble for qualifying to regionals, so they’ll want one of their stronger meets in order to solidify their position. It needs a 195.200 to lock up that spot for sure, which is also within the realm of possibility. They likely won’t challenge for the title here, but with a strong meet, the Cougars can move on to regionals on a high note.​

These aren’t the only conference championships happening Saturday! To see all the matchups all in one place, take a look at our master schedule. You can also find live scoring and video links below.

Want to receive the latest collegiate gymnastics news in your inbox? Sign up for the NCAA Gym NewsLetter here.