The 2025 season is officially underway, with Week 1 giving all the drama we’ve come to know from our sport. From what we could see (shoutout to SID live streams), Oklahoma wasted no time reclaiming dominance while LSU proved its depth is legit, as it was without arguably the nation’s best gymnast. As expected, the SEC is prevalent in the top eight, but the rest of the Power Four made it clear they also bring legitimate contenders to the table.
1. Oklahoma
Oklahoma employed the heavy all-arounder strategy in the opening weekend, with rookies Lily Pederson and Addison Fatta getting the green light on four events alongside veterans Audrey Davis, Faith Torrez, and Jordan Bowers. And they did so swimmingly, as the Sooners top the rankings after week one by several tenths. Following up the best-ever regular season in NCAA women’s gymnastics history by stats, the revenge tour is off to a hot start with Oklahoma looking to do anything to erase last season’s national semifinal from fans’ memories and get the dynasty back on track. With seemingly plenty of more depth for head coach KJ Kindler to flex throughout the season, an eighth championship is well within reach.
2. LSU
The reigning champs did not disappoint in their season debut; the Tigers rolled to an easy win over Iowa State after dropping their title banner pre-meet. Despite missing superstar Haleigh Bryant due to a nagging UCL injury, LSU was able to post the second-highest score of week one and solidify its next superstar in Kailin Chio, who pushed Aleah Finnegan in the all-around and tied the All-American for the bars and beam titles. The Tigers also gained back key depth in Alexis Jeffrey and KJ Johnson—both absent from lineups at Gymnastics 101—helping LSU shape up nicely to remain in heavy contention to defend its title come April.
3. California
California put forth one of the most balanced, complete, and fall-free performances of the premier weekend, as expected, with its four core all-arounders returning from its runner-up campaign. Mya Lauzon held her own against Olympic champions Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles—whose teams don’t appear in the top eight—in their return to NCAA competition, with Lauzon nabbing shares of two event titles in a three-9.9 outing, as she picked up right where she left off in 2024. There is still some adjusting to replace graduated routines, but the Golden Bears are shaping to remain title contenders.
4. Michigan State
For as much talent as the Michigan State roster has this year, it didn’t get the hype it deserved in the preseason. The Spartans took that personally, showing out in week one for their best opening-meet score in program history, reassuring the nation they’re finally ready to break through and nab that elusive trip to the NCAA championships. This was accomplished without one of Michigan State’s stars, Skyla Schulte, who was absent from lineups and seen with an ice pack on the sidelines, as Nikki Smith—who competed at nationals as an individual in 2024—picked up where she left off, already looking to be in postseason form. Entering the season, the projection for best in the Big Ten was a tight race, and after week one, there’s a clear favorite.
5. Utah
It was a mixed bag of an opener for the Red Rocks, who rebounded from some hiccups on vault with promising bars and beam lineups paving the way for a respectable total. Of the Utes, it was Makenna Smith, once again, proving she’s the reliable and consistent all-arounder they need, while Grace McCallum continued to struggle to hit four events regularly. Lauded rookie Avery Neff shined on three events before notching her first fall on floor since 2019—but still looks to be the third superstar Utah needs to threaten for a 10th title. There’s work to do, but if Neff, McCallum, and Smith can all hit at the same time, there’s no reason the Utes can’t be in contention to end their championship drought.
6. Florida
The Gators were idle in week one, with their preseason expectations and hype enough to hold them a spot in the top eight. After winning a few individual NCAA titles a season ago and earning Olympic alternate nods for the second time, Leanne Wong will be more motivated than ever to fuel Florida to overcome its title drought as she, yet again, has the pieces around her to do so. During the holiday season, the Gators’ gift to the gymternet was announcing U.S. elite Ly Bui joined the roster for the current season despite being just 16 years old, making Florida’s options seemingly double-digit deep on every event.
7. Missouri
In an attempt to create the busiest meet ever, with four gymnastics teams competing during a wrestling dual, the Tigers were able to remain focused and begin their nationals quest on the right foot. A win from senior Amari Celestine in her all-around debut propelled Missouri to one of week one’s few high-196s in what ended as a lower-scoring weekend overall. Meanwhile, the gymternet rejoiced at the un-retirement of Helen Hu and her unique and refreshing beam set. The hushness surrounding the injury to key transfer Lauren Macpherson is a concern, but the debut of former five-star recruit Railey Jackson was a success, so it was an overall net-positive weekend for a team on the nationals bubble.
8. Denver
Things got dicey on beam for a sub-48 total, but the Pioneers impressed in the rest of their season-opener for a convincing win and promise to remain a nationals underdog. Denver has more to replace than initially thought with key two-eventer Kiley Rorich being spotted in an arm sling, but the debut of Cecilia Cooley after she missed her sophomore season with injury was a successful replacement thus far. It will be tricky for the Pioneers to hang onto this spot as more teams compete in week two, but don’t forget about Denver as a nationals darkhorse come March, with bars as its likely key to success.
Next Up: Alabama, Arkansas, Oregon State
READ THIS NEXT: An Overview of Updated NCAA Gymnastics Rules and Judging Clarifications for 2025
Article by Brandis Heffner
LOL! FLORIDA 6TH. TOTAL GARBAGE RANKING.
My apology to Brandis Heffner for being so harsh above. It isn’t that I think the writer actually believes Florida is #6 in this power ranking, it’s also the explanation of how Oklahoma did its first meet.
When the Sooners imploded on the vault and had to count a fall on the beam in the 2024 national semifinals, they were using an experienced lineup of 9 with 4 AAs.
In the Sooners opening meet of 2025, the Sooners used 8 gymnasts with 5 AAs, 3 veterans, Jordan Bowers, Audrey Davis, and Faith Torrez, and 2 true freshmen, Addison Fatta and Lily Pederson. Freshman Elle Mueller performed on bars.
For the #1 ranked team in the nation, the Sooners seemingly have little margin of error for injuries or just getting worn out in the week-to-week grind of college gymnastics. This is especially true in that OU gets no breathers now that they are in the deep SEC plus are playing a national schedule.
The Sooners have 14 available gymnasts due to 2 injured gymnasts, one for the season and one likely for the season. Looking at the opening meet, the Sooners depended on 9 routines from true freshmen. At some point like last season in the national semifinals, an 8 or 9 gymnasts strategy counted on to carry the load of the Oklahoma team could become a huge negative issue and especially so counting so heavily on true freshmen.
We saw Kiley warm up bars for Denver. Any background?