The second round of our NCAA regionals analyses brings you the Iowa City regional and its teams’ chances of qualifying full squads and individuals to nationals. Learn more information about the matchups, who has the best chances of making the national championships and if your picks in the 2016 NCAA gymnastics bracket challenge were smart or not.
|
Rank
|
Team
|
RQS
|
Average
|
High Score
|
Starting Event
|
|
No. 1
|
Oklahoma
|
197.920
|
197.588
|
198.075
|
Bye before Bars
|
|
No. 12
|
Nebraska
|
196.635
|
196.205
|
197.350
|
Beam
|
|
No. T-13
|
Arkansas
|
196.575
|
196.335
|
197.225
|
Floor
|
|
No. 19
|
Iowa
|
196.330
|
195.456
|
196.650
|
Bye before Floor
|
|
No. 30
|
Kent State
|
195.595
|
195.102
|
196.125
|
Bars
|
|
No. 35
|
Central Michigan
|
195.440
|
194.910
|
196.125
|
Vault
|
|
Individual Competitors
|
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Oklahoma will qualify without any trouble. It would take a 500 pound gorilla taking up residence on the vault runway for the Sooners not to make it to Fort Worth but even then they would probably find a way to still win the meet by a point. The real competition will come down to which team out of Nebraska and Arkansas will advance.
It’s really a toss up at this point. Nebraska has the higher scoring potential and has been coming on stronger these past few weeks. However, Arkansas has been the more consistent team. The Huskers are more prone to mistakes and how they do relies heavily on whether or not its big guns are healthy or even if its backups are healthy. Nebraska always seems to have small rosters and injuries — two things that don’t exactly go swimmingly together. If both teams hit with all members healthy and actually competing, Nebraska will most likely advance, but if someone’s out or there are smaller mishaps here and there, Arkansas can take the technical upset.
Iowa is also dangerous, especially since it’s in Iowa City. Despite the fact that Iowa’s been stronger on the road, Iowa has impressed this year. The Hawkeyes are able to put up mid-196 scores and can challenge both Nebraska and Arkansas on a good day. While the duo will probably need to at least have some smaller mistakes across the board that add up for Iowa to advance, it can happen. Meanwhile, Kent State and Central Michigan will mainly be focusing on not finishing last and finishing their 2016 season on a high note.
As for the individual qualifiers, it’ll really come down to which team doesn’t qualify. Nebraska has a ton of all arounders, so if Arkasnas moves on, it’ll surely be two of the Huskers’ four that make the trip. Arkansas only really has Amanda Wellick, which makes way for Iowa’s Mollie Drenth, Allie Glover or Angel Metcalf to move on as well. However, Those Hawkeyes can also challenge the Husker four-eventers if it comes to that.
