Arizona at Utah

Recap

The Big Storyline: In its home opener, Utah had no problems getting past Arizona in its season opener by sweeping the meet and notching a new season high team total. Maile O’Keefe led the way for the Utes, notching event titles on bars and beam and scoring 9.900s on both as well. Freshman Jessica Castles made a statement in her Wildcats debut, tying O’Keefe for the event title on beam and also making an appearance on floor.

Implications: Utah became the sixth team this season to hit 197 and will slide back into the top four in the rankings, the highest of any Pac-12 school. Arizona will debut at No. 15, currently good for third in the conference.

Records: Arizona’s team total was the highest for the Wildcats in a season opener since 2016.

Preview

Current Rankings: Arizona at No. 6 Utah

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: Until a few uncharacteristic falls and wobbles on beam took them out of contention in its final rotation last week against Oklahoma, Utah showed that it has realistic national title hopes this season after staying right with the Sooners for a majority of the meet. The Utes should be able to bounce back well at home against an Arizona team making its season debut, giving us an early look at if the Wildcats will be able to challenge for a spot in the top half of the Pac-12 this year.

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: Arizona lost a majority of its high scoring routines from last season, so keep an eye on freshmen Jessica Castles and Elena Deets as the Wildcats look for new lineups options in 2021. Utah’s Maile O’Keefe is off to a hot start this season, ranking second on beam and seventh in the all around in the country for the Utes, who have also been getting great contributions from sophomore Jaedyn Rucker after missing her freshman season with injury.