It’s fun to watch rankings change every week, but they only tell us so much about the status of a team. Which teams are on the rise and which are barely hanging on? Which ones have a competitive ranking by the grace of their RQS drop scores and which will pose a real threat in postseason? I’ll dig into the real dynamics of NCAA gymnastics in this biweekly column that’s part power ranking, part high school yearbook awards—all serious analysis.
Just kidding, almost zero serious analysis.
It’s been a contentious couple of weeks in college gymnastics, both among teams and among fans, but what’s shaping up is the closest and deepest nationals field I’ve seen in the decade I’ve watched college gymnastics. The regionals cutoff this year is going to be absolutely brutal, with numerous teams having their best season in history guaranteed to miss out because there just aren’t enough spots. An incredible group of teams ranked from No. 9 to No. 12 will make the regional final the most competitive we’ve seen since the new postseason format has existed, and then at the very end of the road, the top three teams in the country are incredibly close in quality with No. 4 Utah just beginning to show us what it can do. It’s really exciting stuff.
Flames Emoji
Oklahoma had an incredible weekend. I love the symmetry of having to defeat the current No. 1 to become No. 1, and the Sooners’ win over Michigan last Friday was resounding.
On the Struggle Bus
We’re not used to seeing No. 32 Southern Utah in the regionals danger zone, but the Thunderbirds have currently only scored better than 195.600 on the road once this season. Any decent performance at MRGCs should be enough to keep SUU safe, but it’ll be a stressful day.
Glad You’re Having Fun
I mean… the judges, right?
Why Is This Happening
We knew that assigning regular season championships was dumb, but having a four-way tie in the Pac-12 really showed the dumbness in the most public and exciting way possible. We’ve got to thank UCLA for selflessly finishing the job against Cal to make the whole thing possible.
Won Twitter for the Week
Misty-Jade Carlson, Utah’s infinitely-talented creative content specialist, did impressive work in Photoshop to edit Cristal Isa out of this photo once Isa announced she would be taking a fifth year.
Quietly Cruising
Kentucky has held pace with Minnesota and California all year with a fraction of the hype. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see the Wildcats back at nationals.
In Memoriam
We all had a lot of fun pretending Georgia was in danger of not making regionals. It’s still a thoroughly unimpressive season for the Gymdogs, but a respectable ranking of No. 24 is going to force us fans to stop being such divas about it.
Next Week, I Swear
All those 10s this weekend and we couldn’t make it happen for Soloski and Muhlenhaupt… damn.
I Don’t Know Who Needs to Hear This, but…
Twitter is not real life, but it IS really good at tricking us into thinking that the opinions held by our little social circle are much more universal than they are.
Fall of the Week
Don’t worry, though, she’s OK:
Article by Rebecca Scally
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