Another week, another packed weekend of NCAA gymnastics. With big matchups between top teams, including the No. 2 and 3 teams facing off, there’s bound to be more excitement than ever. And we don’t want you to miss a minute. As always, you’ll find everything you need to follow along with all the meets happening this weekend, including previews of the top matchups, Fantasy Gymnastics resources and every scoring and video link you could ever need.
No. 9 Kentucky at No. 7 Alabama: Friday, Feb. 16 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Kentucky is back on the road after seeing a tough loss against Georgia at home last weekend, scoring a season low 195. Despite a loss to Florida in week six, the Crimson Tide had a strong performance and should feel confident as they return to Tuscaloosa to compete in front of a home crowd. Senior Kiana Winston made her all around debut in Gainesville and if head coach Dana Duckworth decides to keep her in the position, the Tide should be a force. Kentucky had a weak home meet but has found luck and confidence in its road meets. The Wildcats are going to look to strengthen their mental game if they want to be contenders with the Tide. Gifted with a slew of all arounders, Kentucky’s sophomore Mollie Korth and junior Alex Hyland can put up big numbers for the Wildcats. Watch out for both to contend with Winston for the all around title and for Hyland to battle Alabama’s Nickie Guerrero for the top score on beam.
| Alicia | Amy | Caroline | Christina | Elizabeth | EmilyHF | EmilyM | Rebecca | Tara |
| Alabama | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama | Kentucky | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama |
.@UKGymnastics is at @BamaGymnasticsFriday at 8:30 p.m. ET. Who wins? #NCAAgym
— NCAA Gym News (@NCAAGymNews) February 13, 2018
No. 13 Washington at No. 17 Arizona State: Saturday, Feb. 17 at 1:30 p.m. ET
The Huskies just had their best meet of the season by finally hitting 197 and scoring above a 49 on all four events. They have been slowly but surely improving all season, and last week was just a glimpse of what this team is capable of when it hits to potential. They are heading into Tempe as the favorites, especially if they repeat their performance, but the Sun Devils will likely not give up the fight so easily. Arizona State is finally back home after two weeks on the road where it struggled to hit that 196 mark again and lost senior Nichelle Christopherson to injury. The Sun Devils have shown some nerves and struggled on bars but will need to rally on what has been their best event if they want to hang with Washington at the midway point. While the team battle will undoubtedly be exciting, the all around fight should be just as thrilling as No. 16 Cairo Leonard-Baker and No. 17 Hailey Burleson will match up against one another for the first time this season.
| Alicia | Amy | Caroline | Christina | Elizabeth | EmilyHF | EmilyM | Rebecca | Tara |
| UW | ASU | UW | ASU | ASU | UW | UW | UW | UW |
No. 13 @UWGymnastics is at No. 17 @SunDevilGym Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET. Who wins? #NCAAgym
— NCAA Gym News (@NCAAGymNews) February 13, 2018
No. 23 California at No. 25 Stanford: Saturday, Feb. 17 at 10:30 p.m. ET
This is yet another exciting Pac-12 matchup against two very close teams in the rankings. After a lot of struggles on the road in the first few meets of the season, California finally hit a complete meet last week in Berkeley to score its first 197 and match a program-high beam score. The Golden Bears finally lived up to their potential, but it will be interesting to see if they can repeat the same performance in Palo Alto Saturday. In their previous road meets, they struggled to hit bars and oftentimes had difficulties on beam as well. It will be crucial for the Bears to once again hit 24 for 24 routines to not only beat Stanford but to also get a solid road score under their belts with few remaining to ensure a solid RQS when the time comes. Stanford is coming off one of its worst showings of the season and continued to struggle on uneven bars with only five gymnasts up and counting two falls, including one fluke-but-epic miss from the usually rock-solid Elizabeth Price. If California hits to its potential, it should run away with this meet as its season high towers over Stanford’s. However, if both teams show up with their usual demons, it could be a battle, albeit a heartbreaking one, for the win.
| Alicia | Amy | Caroline | Christina | Elizabeth | EmilyHF | EmilyM | Rebecca | Tara |
| California | Stanford | California | California | California | California | California | California | California |
No. 23 @CalWGym is at No. 25 @StanfordWGym Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET. Who wins? #NCAAgym
— NCAA Gym News (@NCAAGymNews) February 13, 2018
No. 3 Utah at No. 2 UCLA: Sunday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. ET
This was already going to be an exciting competition, but with UCLA moving up to No. 2 and ahead of Utah in this week’s rankings, it became even more of a must-watch competition. The Bruins will be back home after an easy meet against California where they rested some of their top athletes and explored depth. Last time they were at home, Pauley exploded with six perfect 10.0s, including four in a row across both teams, and UCLA went on to earn its highest score of the season, so fans will certainly be in for an intense showdown between these conference rivals. Against Utah, we can expect UCLA to put up its best lineups possible, so we should see Kyla Ross back in the all around, Peng Peng Lee back on beam and Katelyn Ohashi and Felicia Hano on floor. The Utes did not have one of their best showing last week, but Mykayla Skinner didn’t miss a beat and won literally everything. They will need to start strong right off the bat and take the lead early on as UCLA will be on its “worst” event in the first rotation. Utah is also dealing with the temporary loss of freshman Sydney Soloski to a broken nose and will have to put up a solid, consistent performer to replace her on floor, which may be more difficult than it seems. Floor was problematic last weekend, with misses from Macey Roberts and Missy Reinstadtler, and the Utes cannot afford any mistakes if they hope to come away with a big score and a win in LA. Finally, we are in for a thrilling all around battle between No. 2 Skinner, No. 3 Ross and No. 8 MaKenna Merrell-Giles.
| Alicia | Amy | Caroline | Christina | Elizabeth | EmilyHF | EmilyM | Rebecca | Tara |
| UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA |
No. 3 @UtahGymnastics is at No. 2 @uclagymnastics Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. Who wins? #NCAAgym
— NCAA Gym News (@NCAAGymNews) February 13, 2018
Other Notable Matchups
No. 5 Florida at No. 14 Georgia: Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. ET
This week’s top SEC matchup is one you surely won’t want to miss. The Florida Gators have been on fire recently, putting up big scores left and right and seem to have the puzzle pieces fitting just right in their line ups. Last week against Alabama, the Gators managed not to put up anything less than a 9.875 on floor, as well as a 10.000 from Baker. Georgia, on the other hand, is coming off of a huge upset against Kentucky. Injuries, lack of depth and a new coaching staff have managed to unleash the potential within this team to succeed. Gymdogs Snead, Babilis, Oakley and Johnson are consistently putting up high scores week to week. This SEC matchup will be one to watch Friday night.
Mardi Gras Invitational with No. 4 LSU, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 20 Missouri and No. 21 George Washington: Friday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET
In the evening session of the Mardi Gras Invitational, three SEC teams and EAGL powerhouse George Washington will meet up for the rare chance to compete on podium before the postseason rolls around. This will be LSU’s first of two meets this weekend, and the Tigers’ second chance already this season to acclimate to the podium. This team has shown some weaknesses though, as it had to count a fall on beam and had misses on both bars and floor last week at Missouri. They need to hit 24 for 24 before they can really start reeling in those bigger totals. Arkansas will be looking to prove that it can hang outside of Barnhill Arena, with all three of its top scores so far coming at home. A road 197 would really help the Gymbacks’ RQS picture as we approach that time of the season, but they’ll have to fire on all cylinders to make that happen. Missouri is on the rise after a strong meet last week, with fewer mistakes than opposing LSU, despite the loss. They too will be interested in a big road score in their first of three straight away meets, especially with one of their current away scores sitting in the 194s. And George Washington will need to capitalize on this opportunity to score some big points to maintain its ranking as the season speeds toward RQS. The weak link has been beam this year, as the Colonials struggle to find a steady score among the freshman class, so keep an eye on beam to be their critical rotation.
Perfect 10 Challenge with No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 12 Nebraska: Friday, Feb. 16 at 7:45 p.m. ET
Oklahoma continues to dominate nationally and shows no sign of slowing down this week. Coming off of three consecutive 198s, the Sooners are in a position to put up another huge road total. The only questions lie on beam—who will make the lineup with the possibility of Brenna Dowell and perhaps Natalie Brown in addition to the six they have been putting up—and floor, where the Sooners have shown landing mistakes in the majority of the meets this season. Nebraska comes into this meet after its lowest score since week one, which dropped it four spots in the rankings to No. 12. The Huskers struggled on vault and beam, showing lack of focus and hoppy landings. Though Nebraska will not win this meet—barring disaster for Oklahoma—it needs to put up a 196+ road score to stay competitive with the top teams. Megan Verceles Carr debuted on vault last week, as did Kynsee Roby on floor, so watch to see whether the freshmen hold those lineup spots for a second-consecutive time.
No. 10 Denver, No. 35 Southern Utah at No. 19 BYU: Friday, Feb. 16 at 9 p.m. ET
The Cougars host the Pioneers and the Thunderbirds in what will be a rematch of Friday’s meet at Southern Utah, as well as a rematch from the team’s meet at DU just two weeks ago. On Friday, the Cougars were edged out by the Thunderbirds by a margin of 0.35 in a meet in which the Cougars tallied a 196.450, tying the team’s season high. Freshman Haley Pitou has started hitting bars like she did in J.O., showing her prowess on the event. The Thunderbirds, meanwhile, have struggled to find consistency all season. While the team scored a 196.800 to take the win against BYU, the Thunderbirds hosted a second meet on Monday where it scored just a 195.2. If this double-meet weekend isn’t representative of the team’s season, we don’t know what is. When the team is at its peak, it has high potential featuring the likes of Autumn Jorgensen and Karen Gonzalez. Finally, the Pioneers faced some adversity on Saturday night after the team lost freshman phenom Lynnzee Brown in warmups to a lower leg injury that is expected to sideline her four weeks. Still, the team stepped up and let the circumstances fuel their fire. Leah Lomonte stepped in to give the Pioneers six on bars, while Emily Glynn returned to the floor lineup, preventing the team from putting up just four routines. The team’s 196.725 still marked its third highest score of the year, despite the team’s current circumstances.
No. 37 Utah State at No. 15 Boise State: Friday, Feb. 16 at 9 p.m. ET
The Broncos return home to host the Aggies on Friday evening. Last time these two teams matched up just two weeks ago, the Aggies hosted a meet where Boise State took the title with a 196.625 compared to Utah State’s 195.150. In the team’s last meet, the Broncos held steady against that score, tallying a 196.400. Shani Remme is one to keep an eye out for, especially on bars and beam, which are her two best events. Utah State was another team that had a double-meet weekend in which the team continued its trend of consistently scoring in the low-195 range. The team looks to rebound from a subpar beam rotation Monday night where the team had to count two scores between 9.500 and 9.650. Led by Madison Ward, the Aggies look to fend off the Broncos. However, that will likely only be possible barring the combination of a Boise State implosion and the Aggies hitting at least five for six clean routines on each event.
No. 24 Arizona at No. 11 Oregon State: Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3:30 p.m.
The Beavers are back home after a loss on the road but still a season-high road score. They have a clear advantage in this matchup but will want to put up a cleaner showing than last week where they struggled on beam. Don’t miss sophomore Lena Greene in the vault lineup, as she made her collegiate debut, winning the event with a 9.900 for her front handspring pike half. The Wildcats also struggled on beam during their senior night meet, having to count a fall on the event. Most importantly, they will also have to adapt and try out new lineups due to the loss of freshman Payton Bellows to what looked like a torn Achilles. Bellows was a star on vault with her Yurchenko one and a half but was also a crucial contributor in the floor lineup.
No. 55 Texas Woman’s at No. 4 LSU: Sunday, Feb. 18 at 3:30 p.m. ET
In its second meet of the weekend, LSU will take on DII’s Texas Women’s, returning home to the PMAC after a trip to Missouri. Two meets in three days is a lot, especially for the difficulty level the Tigers frequently operate at, so expect to see some depth routines come out while head coach D-D Breaux opts to rest some of her top performers. Kennedi Edney, Myia Hambrick and Sarah Finnegan may get the chance to rest their legs while we might see more from Erin Macadaeg, Julianna Cannamela or Ashlyn Kirby. As at the Mardi Gras Invitational, the most important rotation for LSU will be beam to see if the Tigers have finally figured out how to hit six for six again. On the flipside, Texas Woman’s might not have a genuine upset chance against the Tigers, but after setting a season high by a margin of a point and a half last weekend, it has a great opportunity to continue its momentum at a top DI team where scoring might rise higher than it is accustomed to. Watch for Mallory Moredock and Schyler Jones, who scored back to back 9.9s on floor last weekend.
These aren’t the only meets happening this weekend. 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 for all this weekend’s meets below.
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Don’t worry! We haven’t forgotten about Fantasy Gymnastics players. We have a number of resources to aid in your weekly success. Check out our updated injury report to see if any of your gymnasts have been out of action. We also have a list of teams on byes, as well as those with multiple competitions, this week.
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Article by the editors at NCAA Gym News
