And just like that, we’re down to eight teams vying for the national title! After thrilling and drama-filled regionals, all eyes are on the NCAA Championships next weekend, where seven worthy challengers will try to top defending champion Oklahoma—who followed up that title by maintaining its No. 1 ranking wire-to-wire this season.
However, it’s not the Sooners sitting at the top of the class heading into championships. A two-fall beam rotation spoiled Oklahoma’s perfect marks, and now it’s UCLA on top for the first time this season. The Bruins are carrying plenty of positive momentum heading into their semifinal, but with no team owning straight A’s across the board, the title is a bit of an open race.
In 2023, the NCAA Report Card will measure which teams look like championship teams right now, meaning grades will not be cumulative. Instead, they’ll reflect averages over the most recent two weeks of competition—because what matters most in the postseason is who’s hot at the right time. With the average NCAA champions’ score from the last five years now totaling 198.250, the standards for grades are rising, too. An event total of 49.600 or better is now required for an A+, 49.550 or better for an A, 49.500 for an A-, and the pattern continuing in five-hundredths of a point decreases per plus/minus.
The most significant upside to this new system is that it will indicate which teams have picked up momentum in a way that traditional rankings can’t. Grades will appear harsher at first because of this change—especially early in the season—but with a clean slate every two weeks, schools can rebound easily.
Top of the Class
UCLA
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor |
| A- | B+ | A- | A+ |
Championship Outlook: The Bruins have to be ecstatic about the offseason decision to bring Janelle McDonald to Westwood; in just one season, she’s returned UCLA to the national stage and fully turned the page on the decline in ranking and culture from her predecessor. Capitalizing on the full potential of the roster—including a key season debut from Brooklyn Moors—helped the Bruins post the highest score of regionals in their semifinal performance. Moors’ repeat 9.9s for her front pike half were instrumental in notching competitive vault totals for the first time this season, as UCLA now has a trio of 10.0 start values and the best Yurchenko full out there. Those will be crucial in the Bruins’ vault-heavy semifinal if they hope to advance to the final, where their star power could propel them to a title.
Honor Roll
California
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor |
| D | A- | B+ | A |
Championship Outlook: In one of the most surprising developments of regionals weekend, California posted the top score of any regional final in upsetting Florida to win in Pittsburgh. The Golden Bears now enter championships ranked fourth and have a legitimate shot at finishing at least as high as a competitor in the afternoon semifinal. Vault’s inability to reach even 49.5 puts them in a position where their other three events must hit, but as they showcased at regionals, they’re a threat when they do. For a program with just one NCAA champion, California can add plenty of individual hardware to its trophy case.
Florida
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor |
| C+ | A | A | B- |
Championship Outlook: While the Gators had little trouble during the regular season navigating needing to rest Trinity Thomas, her unexpected absence after a routine and a half due to injury at regionals exposed some holes for Florida on the leg events. Those few tenths didn’t matter much previously, but as the Gators nearly learned the hard way in narrowly besting Michigan State to make nationals, everything counts. Even without Thomas, the Gators will be a favorite to advance to the NCAA final, but their titles hopes may lie with her injury status.
Oklahoma
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor |
| A- | A+ | C | A |
Championship Outlook: As the Norman Regional began and the Sooners started with back-to-back beam falls, for about half an hour, we all got to fantasize about a world where the defending champions were eliminated pre-nationals. But, in typical Oklahoma fashion, it counted no less than a 9.875 the rest of the meet to take the regional title and still go 198-plus. The defending national champions didn’t look invincible, but they were still plenty convincing and worthy of the title “favorite” heading into the season’s final weekend.
Utah
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor |
| A+ | B+ | A- | B+ |
Championship Outlook: In qualifying for their 47th-straight NCAA championships, the Utes were the only team to post a 198 in both rounds of regionals and enter the title rounds ranked second. While they didn’t do anything special on bars or floor and were only great (rather than exceptional) on beam at regionals, dialing in on vault landings made a huge difference. Similar to how she could at Michigan, Abby Brenner can motivate and set up a lineup for big scores with an early stuck Yurchenko one and a half—and that’s been on display all postseason. Utah’s high-level consistency over regionals is exactly what a team wants to do at nationals to win a championship. It is what makes Utah a threat for the title. However, it’s in the tougher semifinal, making a record-tying 10th title that much harder and eliminating any margin for error.
Plenty of Potential
Denver
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor |
| D+ | B- | A | A- |
Championship Outlook: Although it was a trendy bracket pick to have Denver upsetting someone in its home regional to advance to nationals, most didn’t consider the Pioneers winning in the closest top-to-bottom final of the weekend. Looking ahead, Denver competes in the semifinal with the lower seeds and thus will have a shot at finals with a few high-197s and a 198 on its resume. But it’s also the most inconsistent team at championships and has no margin for error. Sixth-year Lynnzee Brown was a member of the Pioneers’ 2019 squad that earned the program’s best-ever finish at fourth and will have to be a factor if they hope to improve that mark.
Kentucky
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor |
| C+ | B+ | B+ | B |
Championship Outlook: The perennial nationals bubble team seemed almost destined for another near-miss after getting stuck in the always-tough eight vs. nine-seed regional matchup. But Kentucky’s prowess for always competing well in the postseason finally paid off, as it ended up fending off 16-seed Ohio State for a place at the NCAA Championships. While the Wildcats remain the lone competitor who haven’t been above 198 this year, they benefit from competing as an underdog. Already guaranteed the best finish in program history, Kentucky can compete like it has nothing to lose, with that energy often the key to postseason success.
LSU
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor |
| C+ | B | B- | B+ |
Championship Outlook: Flashbacks of missing NCAAs last year were prevalent throughout regionals for the Tigers as an unconvincing performance saw them only advance via tiebreak. It wasn’t a bad showing for LSU—particularly in the final, where no falls made the difference—but the lack of explosive event totals for a difference-making score kept qualifying in question all weekend. But, the Tigers did make it to nationals this year and had the benefit of competing in the wide-open semifinal, where the return of KJ Johnson from injury on more than one event could give LSU the momentum it needs for a Four on the Floor run.
READ THIS NEXT: Kentucky Advances to National Championship After Just Being Itself
Article by Brandis Heffner
Like what you see? Consider donating to support our efforts throughout the year! [wpedon id=”13158″]
3 comments