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 officially the time of year where we spend more time talking about administrative incompetence than gymnastics! Yay? For once, though, I don’t think this is on gymternet for complaining too much (though we definitely do). The administrative decision-makers do genuinely just keep inventing new ways to be weird.
Flames Emoji
The GEC championship was the greatest thing that’s ever happened, and anyone who questions the judging is dead to me. Do I look like someone who would be troubled about half the teams at a single meet getting program records if those records were cool and funny? Hell no. It was awesome, shut up.
On the Struggle Bus
The lady who pronounced the names at the selection show. I almost picked her for “Glad You’re Having Fun” instead because she was just exercising her creative spirit and childish spontaneity.
Glad You’re Having Fun
You know how most of the time when you log onto social media in the days before a postseason meet there’s all this ultra-focused gymnastics content where everyone’s posting slogans and countdown graphics and doing pressure sets? Last week Ohio State had “Golf Week” where every day the team played golf and did golf-related activities, Not sure what was up with that, but hey, it worked.
Why Is This Happening
I don’t have to rehash that whole Iowa State/N.C. State thing for you, right? You saw it all on Twitter 20 times yesterday? I’m so tired.
Used…..? Twitter for the Week
Luisa Blanco’s social media posts couldn’t be more obtuse if she tried, which leads me to suspect that she actually is trying.
She did it a second time on Instagram too.
Quietly Cruising
The Big 12, the Pac-12 and the MRGC were the only two conferences in which every team went 196-plus at the championship, meaning that the bottom teams in those conferences had a great week. West Virginia, Washington, Southern Utah, Stanford and Arizona were all on the bubble to qualify for regionals and finished the job in style.
In Memoriam
Two-thirds of the MAC teams that had a chance to qualify to regionals, and also all of our carefully created Bubble Watch content and math that became immediately obsolete when three teams wiped themselves out of contention literally as quickly as possible on conference day. Hey, you can’t have tension and stakes all the time.
Next Week, I Swear
Feels like we’ve all taken our eyes off the Emily Muhlenhaupt 10 Crusade. It’s not over, and it’s not time to quit.
Fall of the Week
All of the LSU falls at SECs this week were perplexing but this is my personal favorite.
Article by Rebecca Scally
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Can I just say that I truly love Jade but can the judges please accept that a gold medal does not excuse moving feet in a routine. Judges …if the feet move it’s a deduction. I was sitting by the beam and floor at the conference meet and none of the wobbles or movements were deducted. She is wonderful to watch but every routine is not a 9.95. Please take the deduction when warranted Some of her routines are the most inflated of the season. There’s a chance for redemption at regionals. Please be honest and fair