Utah at California

Recap

The Big Storyline: In the biggest upset of the season so far, California topped Pac-12 favorite Utah behind a career all-around day from sophomore Andi Li, beating the Utes for only the third time ever. Li captured the all-around and bars titles while the Golden Bears notched season-high event totals on vault and floor to open and close their strong performance. Despite dropping their first conference meet since 2019, Utah had two near-perfect scores as highlights from Jaedyn Rucker and Sydney Soloski.

Implications: Still undefeated on the season, California is now the frontrunner for the Pac-12 regular season title, likely needing to lose twice to fall from the top spot. Unfortunately, after setting a new career-high on vault with a 9.900, Utah’s Jillian Hoffman tore her Achilles and will miss the rest of the season.

Records: California’s Nevaeh DeSouza hit 9.950 on vault for a new career-best while teammate Gabby Perea made her collegiate debut with a 9.900 on bars.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 3 Utah at No. 11 California

Why You Should Cancel Plans for It: The Pac-12’s top two and final undefeated teams will square off with a clear path to the regular season conference title on the line. The Utes come in as a top 10 team and clear favorite, but the Golden Bears have been improving all season and will undoubtedly put up a fight at home.

What We’re Watching: California’s heavy all-arounder strategy versus Utah’s primarily specialist game plan will be fascinating to watch. Grace McCallum, the usual lone all-arounder for the Utes, will face tough competition from four-event stalwarts Maya Bordas, Andi Li and Nevaeh DeSouza for California. That trio leads a bars rotation that will need to have its best outing of the year if it wants to outpace Utah on beam.

What Else You Should Know Before Tuning In: Somehow this meet was not picked up for the Pac-12 Network broadcast, so it will be live streamed for free!