Incomprehensibly, we’ve moved through the part of the part of the season that is dominated by conference duals. Big Fours mean the inexorable approach of postseason, and that means we’ve got a lot to wonder, watch, and worry about. Don’t we always?
Question: Has Cal hit its ceiling?
Every season has teams that start hot and then fail to lift their scores fast enough to keep pace with the field. Cal impressed me so much at the beginning of the season, maximizing the potential of a pretty limited roster with consistency and tenacity. That’s still true, but I don’t think it’s going to be quite enough for the Golden Bears to make a serious dent in the postseason.
The last four scores have been between 196.800 and 196.950, and while 197 is a rounding error away and should happen at some point, it would take a truly astonishing level of execution of the current lineups to push much higher. I think it’s unfortunately likely at this point that teams with more upside will push this team out of regional final contention.
Bonus Questions:
Will Stanford’s strength on the road allow the Cardinal to accelerate down the stretch? This is when the small sample size becomes painful in this sport. I’d love to spin this phenomenal season high in Raleigh into a narrative. Stanford’s top two scores of the season are both road scores, and that is not the case for most of its ranking peers. But it’s just two meets. Am I being melodramatic for feeling like this is a story?
How was it already Ivy Classic? How is it already Big Fours?? The annual panic begins. Where is the time going?
Comment: Iowa is putting the pieces together.
A second 197+ this season and that lovely program record bars rotation is another great outing for a team that is building really encouragingly through this season. It’s still a pretty young roster, with the two great sophomore all-arounders and a freshman class that is increasingly able to produce big numbers. After how tough things got in 2024, it’s great to see this team truly back on track.
As with most teams ranked in the teens right now, the road scores are lagging behind the home scores a bit, but I don’t see it as a major problem for Iowa. A solid 196.725 at Rutgers in between the two home 197s is a reassuring result to me, and I see space for these scores to continue to grow. Vault has practical limitations, but there’s no reason beam shouldn’t tighten up a bit in the back half of the season.
Bonus Comments:
Air Force was understandably the highlight this week, but San Jose State was phenomenal at that meet, too. Two 196s in a row is big for a team that is looking like an unexpected regionals prospect. Another one that has to prove it on the road, but right now the numbers are favorable.
I was waiting for Arizona to have another one like that. The Wildcats had one really great meet in January and then struggled alternately on bars and beam for the whole subsequent month. It’s good to remember that this team is quite dangerous when everything works on the same day.
Concern: What fresh hell awaits us at the horrible Purple & Gold meet this year?
The Purple & Gold Challenge is my least favorite meet of the season. It combines the fake-home-meet gamesmanship of the Maverik Center with the opacity of Metroplex and adds a rancid energy all its own. Something horrible and bizarre always goes on here. The scores are bizarre and unverifiable. Even afterwards, very few videos leak out. It often doesn’t seem to even be a particularly helpful road score for the visitors, which is why most teams want to go to other random videoless neutral-site meets. Even perpetual guest George Washington won’t be there this year.
There are just no redeeming factors here. What even is Tiger Prints Production? Was it invented just for this meet? Was the whole thing designed to irritate me personally?
Bonus Concerns:
What’s going on with UC Davis on bars? This season hasn’t been great for Davis, a 2025 regionals team that has only scored over 194 once in 2026. The 2025 graduating class is a painful loss, and there have almost certainly been some injuries at play. But the extent of the depth crisis now going on with bars is really drastic and sad.
I had almost started to believe in Pittsburgh. Silly of me. This team looked really competitive in the first week of the season but has remained completely stagnant. Regionals now feels like a significant reach once again.
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Article by Rebecca Scally
