Yes, that is a picture of D-D Breaux in a pink hardhat. Because there doesn’t need to be a reason.

Now that the NCAA schedules are finally coming together-ish, it’s probably important for us to start remembering who the people are and what the things do. It’s a really tough job. We need three months.

Before beginning to evaluate this year’s incoming freshmen, I decided to check out where the teams stand without them, how they rank using only scores from 2016’s returning gymnasts. It’s a totally scientific and unimpeachable way of quantifying just how much work the freshmen and new transfers will need to do for teams to return to (or improve on) last year’s level.

When available, I used RQS for each gymnast, but when not, I used full season average.

Most teams do return at least five people who competed on each apparatus last year, but when they don’t, I filled out the remaining scores with punishment 9.700s (I told you, totally scientific). It’s a way of making sure each team has a comparable total, operating under the belief that for these top 15 teams, the backup gymnast who wasn’t good enough to compete probably would have scored a replacement-level 9.700. That is, unless the returning scores were already lower than that (*cough* Utah’s beam *cough*).

1. LSU – 197.726
VAULT Gnat – 9.965 Ewing – 9.905 Hambrick – 9.880 Finnegan – 9.835 Cannamela – 9.835 Macadaeg – 9.790 Priessman – 9.750 49.420	BARS Finnegan 9.915 Hambrick – 9.905 Zamardi – 9.875 Priessman – 9.869 Gnat – 9.727 Cannamela – 9.663 49.291
BEAM Finnegan – 9.915 Gnat – 9.895 Macadaeg – 9.890 Hambrick – 9.885 Ewing – 9.870 Priessman – 9.725 Cannamela – 9.603 49.455	FLOOR Gnat – 9.980 Macadaeg – 9.950 Kelley – 9.885 Hambrick – 9.880 Ewing – 9.865 Finnegan – 9.692 Zamardi – 9.517 Cannamela – 9.050 49.560

Losing only Savona and a not-100% Wyrick from last year’s Super Six team, LSU is sailing smoothly on most events.

2. OKLAHOMA – 197.700
VAULT Jackson – 9.940 Jones – 9.880 Capps – 9.875 Marks – 9.835 Lehrmann – 9.800 49.330	BARS Wofford – 9.950 Catour – 9.925 Capps – 9.920 Lehrmann – 9.915 Jackson – 9.875 49.585
BEAM Capps – 9.955 Brown – 9.910 Lehrmann – 9.875 Jones – 9.860 Catour – 9.850 Jackson – 9.800 Lovan – 9.665 49.450	FLOOR Jackson – 9.920 Capps – 9.915 Jones – 9.910 Brown – 9.890 Marks – 9.700 Lovan – 9.413 49.335

Oklahoma returns fewer overall competitors than LSU does and drops behind on vault and floor without Scaman. I definitely can’t think of any incoming gymnasts who will fill that role.

3. ALABAMA – 197.493
VAULT Brannan – 9.890 Guerrero – 9.865 Bailey – 9.860 Winston – 9.850 McNeer – 9.840 Bresette – 9.835 Armbrecht – 9.642 49.305	BARS Winston – 9.920 Brannan – 9.900 Bailey – 9.890 Jetter – 9.875 Guerra – 9.855 Giancroce – 9.792 49.440
BEAM Sims – 9.915 Guerrero – 9.895 McNeer – 9.885 Winston – 9.845 Brannan – 9.820 Sanders – 9.800 Bailey – 9.735 49.360	FLOOR Winston – 9.905 Jetter – 9.888 Bailey – 9.875 Brannan – 9.870 Guerrero – 9.850 Sims – 9.845 Valentin – 9.831 Guerra – 9.820 Giancroce – 9.635 49.388

Alabama also fares very well with its returning gymnasts, a function of the same thing that made the Tide successful last year, sheer depth of routines.

4. FLORIDA – 197.203
VAULT McMurtry – 9.925 Baker – 9.915 Boren – 9.910 Fassbender – 9.830 Cheney – 9.713 Hiller – 9.700 49.293	BARS McMurtry – 9.940 Boren – 9.860 Baker – 9.860 McLaughlin – 9.800 X – 9.700 49.160
BEAM McMurtry – 9.945 Boren – 9.890 Fassbender – 9.880 Baker – 9.870 McLaughlin – 9.775 49.360	FLOOR Baker – 9.940 Boren – 9.905 McMurtry – 9.885 Fassbender – 9.835 McLaughlin – 9.825 Hiller – 9.725 49.390

Florida was always going to be in more trouble post-Sloan and Caquatto, meaning the Gators will need more serious and immediate contributions from the freshmen/transfer in 2017. In most of these lineups, I’m counting only 2-3 definite returns with the rest of the spots open to be won. And needing to be won by those wildly talented newbies.

5. MICHIGAN – 197.065
VAULT Karas – 9.940 Chiarelli – 9.890 Artz – 9.815 McLean – 9.790 Brown – 9.775 49.210	BARS Artz – 9.900 Brown – 9.890 Karas – 9.850 X – 9.700 X – 9.700 49.040
BEAM Artz – 9.910 Karas – 9.875 Chiarelli – 9.870 Marinez – 9.850 Brown – 9.845 49.350	FLOOR Artz – 9.955 Karas – 9.935 Chiarelli – 9.910 Brown – 9.850 McLean – 9.815 49.465

The Wolverines’ 2017 roster is typically small and mostly freshmen, but they still rank rather high based on returning routines because of how much scoring work that core of Artz, Karas, Brown, and Chiarelli will do. The rest of the roster doesn’t have to come up with all that many big routines.

6. CAL – 196.910
VAULT Williams – 9.865 Robinson – 9.845 Gallarzo – 9.840 Richardson – 9.825 Sy Seilnacht – 9.825 Palomarez – 9.795 Takara – 9.788 Owens – 9.763 49.200	BARS Williams – 9.855 Howe – 9.850 Takara – 9.840 Sternberg – 9.820 Richardson – 9.800 So Seilnacht – 9.700 Gallarzo – 9.648 Owens – 9.042 49.165
BEAM Palomares – 9.855 Howe – 9.850 Draghi – 9.845 So Seilnacht – 9.825 Richardson – 9.820 Owens – 9.790 Sy Seilnacht – 9.738 Williams – 9.542 49.195	FLOOR Williams – 9.935 Draghi – 9.895 Howe – 9.855 Robinson – 9.855 Owens – 9.810 Palomares – 9.745 Sy Seilnacht – 9.483 49.350

Oh hey there, Cal. Good things happen when you lose exactly zero routines from last year’s team.

7. OREGON STATE – 196.596
VAULT Dessaints – 9.900 Gardiner – 9.855 McMillan – 9.825 Jimenez – 9.815 Jacobsen – 9.810 Ricci – 9.775 Singley – 9.775 Khamedoost – 9.750 49.205	BARS McMillan – 9.925 Jacobsen – 9.850 Dessaints – 9.850 Gardiner – 9.835 Khamedoost – 9.835 M Colussi Pelaez – 9.825 Singley – 9.588 S Colussi Pelaez – 9.567 49.295
BEAM Gardiner – 9.905 McMillian – 9.860 S Colussi Pelaez – 9.835 Jimenez – 9.790 M Colussi Pelaez – 9.780 Ricci – 9.500 Singley – 9.175 49.170	FLOOR Gardiner – 9.870 McMillan – 9.867 Ricci – 9.795 Singley – 9.750 Jimenez – 9.644 Jacobsen – 9.567 48.925

Oregon State also returns quite a few options, the big losses being the floor routines from Perez and Radermacher. This season’s eleventy billion freshmen should make OSU one of the deeper teams. But do they simply have a lot of routines or do they have actual depth of scores? This is the question.

8. UCLA – 196.444
VAULT Hall – 9.840 Preston – 9.830 Cipra – 9.830 Lee – 9.825 Honest – 9.810 Meraz – 9.774 Ohashi – 9.738 Dennis – 9.675 49.135	BARS Lee – 9.875 Honest – 9.875 Meraz – 9.810 Dennis – 9.792 Ohashi – 9.733 Mossett – 9.592 Savvidou – 9.490 49.085
BEAM Ohashi – 9.865 Gerber – 9.860 Meraz – 9.835 Preston – 9.775 Savvidou – 9.550 Lee – 9.471 Cipra – 9.375 48.885	FLOOR Cipra – 9.930 Mossett – 9.863 Honest – 9.861 Preston – 9.855 Ohashi – 9.830 Meraz – 9.825 Hall – 9.804 Gerber – 9.760 49.339

UCLA will basically be planning to throw all this out. With the expectations we have for the newbies, only a select handful of these returning routines should see the light of day in 2017. On some events, maybe 2? Or not even?

9. NEBRASKA – 196.301
VAULT Laeng – 9.855 Breen – 9.836 Schweihofer – 9.805 Crouse – 9.760 Williams – 9.760 Lambert – 9.713 Orel – 9.660 49.016	BARS Williams – 9.875 Laeng – 9.865 Breen – 9.835 Lambert – 9.825 Orel – 9.790 Crouse – 9.788 49.190
BEAM Williams – 9.895 Breen – 9.875 Schweihofer – 9.840 Lambert – 9.742 Laeng – 9.565 Orel – 9.541 48.917	FLOOR Breen – 9.855 Crouse – 9.840 Lambert – 9.838 Williams – 9.830 Laeng – 9.810 Schweihofer – 9.790 Orel – 9.725 49.178

Nebraska squeezed enough out of last year’s freshmen to actually get more than 1.34 competitors on each event and therefore do return somewhat realistic lineups.

Now, we get into the balance beam situations. There are a lot of them.

10. AUBURN – 196.000
VAULT Rott – 9.870 Krippner – 9.810 Kopec – 9.794 Engler – 9.770 Garcia – 9.746 Phillips – 9.685 48.990	BARS Milliet – 9.880 Krippner – 9.840 Kopec – 9.830 Cerio – 9.825 Engler – 9.819 49.194
BEAM Milliet – 9.870 Hlawek – 9.820 Cerio – 9.795 Krippner – 9.750 Engler – 9.510 48.745	FLOOR Rott – 9.895 Hlawek – 9.875 Milliet – 9.845 Scaglione – 9.756 X – 9.700 49.071

Things We Lost When Caitlin Atkinson Graduated

11. UTAH – 195.969
VAULT Lewis – 9.845 Rowe – 9.835 Muhaw – 9.800 Lee – 9.750 Merrell – 9.750 48.980	BARS Rowe – 9.905 Schwab – 9.875 Lewis – 9.845 Lee – 9.792 X – 9.700 49.117
BEAM Stover – 9.900 Rowe – 9.880 Lee – 9.825 Merrell – 9.592 X – 9.592 48.789	FLOOR Schwab – 9.910 Lewis – 9.900 Merrell – 9.850 Rowe – 9.848 Stover – 9.575 Lee – 9.392 49.083

Utah was actually considering putting up the letter X on beam at nationals last year.

12. DENVER – 195.866
VAULT Fielitz – 9.850 Chesnok – 9.830 Ross – 9.820 Addison – 9.785 Schou – 9.755 49.040	BARS Ross – 9.880 Chesnok – 9.860 Kern – 9.830 Addison – 9.800 X – 9.700 49.070
BEAM Ross – 9.860 Hammen – 9.835 Schou – 9.815 Fielitz – 9.725 Chesnok – 9.556 48.791	FLOOR Addison – 9.870 Hammen – 9.855 Schou – 9.840 X – 9.700 X – 9.700 48.965

Things We Lost When Nina McGee Graduated

13. GEORGIA – 195.637
VAULT Marino – 9.880 Snead – 9.880 Broussard – 9.830 Johnson – 9.810 Vaculik – 9.755 49.155	BARS Snead – 9.870 Schick – 9.855 Vaculik – 9.850 Cherrey – 9.795 Johnson – 9.625 48.995
BEAM Broussard – 9.875 Vaculik – 9.810 Babalis – 9.805 Schick – 9.604 Cherrey – 9.269 48.363	FLOOR Marino – 9.905 Snead – 9.850 Babalis – 9.850 Reynolds – 9.819 X – 9.700 49.124

Just start doing your beam dry-heaving now to prepare…

14. STANFORD – 195.148
VAULT Price – 9.920 N McNair – 9.830 D McNair – 9.780 Fitzgerald – 9.775 X – 9.700 49.005	BARS Price – 9.940 N McNair – 9.865 Maxwell – 9.795 D McNair – 9.775 X – 9.700 49.075
BEAM Price – 9.850 N McNair – 9.840 Daum – 9.750 Fitzgerald – 9.613 D McNair – 9.400 Spector – 9.375 48.453	FLOOR Price – 9.905 Spector – 9.845 Daum – 9.750 Fitzgerald – 9.690 N Hoffman – 9.425 48.615

Wait, you mean Stanford might have some depth problems?

15. MINNESOTA – 194.799
VAULT Abernathy – 9.840 DeMuse – 9.815 Holst – 9.770 Gardner – 9.770 Hitchcock – 9.500 48.695	BARS Holst – 9.885 DeMuse – 9.840 Gardner – 9.805 Hitchcock – 9.690 Cutler – 9.646 48.866
BEAM Gardner – 9.820 Rahon – 9.730 Ung – 9.658 Holst – 9.525 DeMuse – 9.370 48.103	FLOOR Gardner – 9.875 DeMuse – 9.850 Abernathy – 9.835 Rahon – 9.810 Holst – 9.765 Cutler – 9.650 49.135

Things We Lost When Lindsay Mable Graduated