NCAA Schedule

NCAA Week 8 – Schedule and Links

22 Comments

 

Friday, February 23 Scores Stream
6:00 ET/3:00 PT – Maryland, West Chester, Southern Connecticut (@ Philadelphia, PA) LINK
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [2] LSU @ [15] Georgia LINK SECN
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [11] Arkansas @ [5] Florida  LINK  SEC+
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [6] Michigan, [12] Denver, Utah State, Bowling Green (@ Toledo, OH)   LINK  FLO
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [20] Missouri @ [9] Kentucky  LINK  SEC+
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – SEMO @ Centenary  LINK  CC($)
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – UW-Oshkosh @ UW-Eau Claire  LINK
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Winona State @ Gustavus Adolphus  FREE
7:30 ET/4:30 PT – [19] Minnesota, Michigan State, UW-Stout @ [25] Iowa State LINK  ISU($)
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – West Virginia @ [1] Oklahoma  LINK  FSGo
8:30 ET/5:30 PT – [7] Alabama @ [16] Auburn  LINK SECN
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – Iowa @ Southern Utah  LINK  FREE
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – [13] Boise State @ [18] BYU  LINK  FREE
10:00 ET/7:00 PT – Sacramento State, Alaska @ Seattle Pacific LINK  FREE
10:00 ET/7:00 PT – UC Davis @ San Jose State  LINK  FREE
Saturday, February 24 Scores Stream
4:00 ET/1:00 PT – [22] George Washington @ Penn State  LINK  FREE
4:00 ET/1:00 PT – William & Mary @ NC State  LINK  ACC+
5:00 ET/2:00 PT – UW-La Crosse @ UW-Whitewater  LINK  FREE
6:00 ET/3:00 PT – Arizona @ [17] Arizona State LINK FREE
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [22] Stanford @ [10] Washington  LINK  FREE
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – Western Michigan, Towson, Ursinus @ Rutgers  LINK
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – Pittsburgh @ [14] Nebraska  LINK  UNL
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – New Hampshire, Temple @ Air Force  FREE
Sunday, February 25 Scores Stream
11:00 ET/8:00 PT – US Elite Verification FREE
1:00 ET/10:00 PT – Eastern Michigan @ Kent State  LINK  FREE
1:00 ET/10:00 PT – Cornell, Penn, Yale @ Brown  Ivy($)
1:00 ET/10:00 PT – Brockport, Rhode Island @ Ithaca  FREE
2:00 ET/11:00 PT – [4] Utah @ [21] Cal  LINK  P12N
2:00 ET/11:00 PT – [24] Central Michigan, Ohio State @ Bowling Green  LINK
2:00 ET/11:00 PT – [25] Iowa State, Illinois State @ Lindenwood  LINK  FREE
2:00 ET/11:00 PT – Gustavus Adolphus @ Hamline
3:00 ET/12:00 PT – Ball State @ Northern Illinois  ESPN3
3:00 ET/12:00 PT – Bridgeport, Centenary, SEMO @ TWU
5:00 ET/2:00 PT – [20] Missouri, Illinois-Chicago @ Illinois  LINK  BTN+
FLO
6:00 ET/3:00 PT – [8] Oregon State @ [3] UCLA  LINK  P12N

*Meets marked SECN or P12N will be broadcast live on TV and may also be streamed online for those who have cable-subscriber log-ins or subscriptions to participating Sling, Roku whatnots.

*Meets marked SEC+ or ACC+ may be streamed on the WatchESPN app for those who have cable-subscriber log-ins or subscriptions to participating Sling, Roku whatnots.

*Meets marked ESPN3 may be streamed on the WatchESPN app for those who have a participating ISP.

*Meets marked BTN+/FLO may be streamed either through a paid subscription to BTN+ ($10/month) or a paid subscription to FloGymnastics ($30/month).

*Meets marked [School]$ are streamed through school-specific services and require a subscription to that school’s web streaming.

*Meets marked FREE are streamed through school-specific services and require no log-in or subscription fee.

Marquee Meets

[8] Oregon State @ [3] UCLA

Surprisingly, the only top-10 matchup on the schedule this weekend is Oregon State’s visit to UCLA, rounding out the action on Sunday. Oregon State’s ability to come up with useful 9.850-level routines from presumed non-competing sophomores like Minyard, Lazaro, and Greene has allowed the team to stay close with those pecking around the outside of the Super Six conversation despite losing so many gymnasts after last season.

While the Beavs won’t be expected to defeat UCLA in this one, they still have a 194 road score from that “you ALL get a 1” meet at Pitt that needs to be dropped for RQS. And it will be as long as they…basically show up at this meet. There are few better places to get your big road score, and a 196.650+ would assure OSU of staying in the top 8 when we switch over to RQS on Monday. That’s the score to watch.

UCLA is looking to use this meet to bounce back from the mistakes against Utah—a performance that began with promise on a few events but ultimately featured errors in every lineup, which the Bruins couldn’t afford in a close contest. UCLA will hope to put up a team that isn’t trying to force it as much this time around and doesn’t give away those auto-9.9s at the end of the bars and beam lineups. The scores will be there to get.

I completely understand the decision to sub out Kramer on vault last weekend once Hall had already fallen (Kramer is a major fall risk as well), but that was the conservative choice of a team afraid to lose a mid-season meet. I’m fascinated to see what happens with that vault from here on out because I can’t imagine UCLA being very competitive in Super Six this year with just two 10.0 starts again, yet if you’re afraid to put Kramer up in a (technically) meaningless February meet, what happens when the meets actually matter?

Also, I had a dream that I told UCLA to put up Simone in the sixth spot on floor doing a double tuck, and then I had to explain to Aly Raisman what “Bridgey-ing” was and she told me I was mean. So, I should probably work on that, mentally. I know that’s not officially relevant here, but also it very much is.

[2] LSU @ [15] Georgia

SUPER BEST FRIENDS OF THE WORLD Suzanne and D-D meet again. I mean, I know Courtney is the head coach now, but having Suzanne back is just too much fun to resist.

The “LSU has turned a corner” narrative is tempting after those two 198s, so we’ll see if it follows in this one, a meet that LSU should win comfortably. There are some real decisions to make with regard to the floor lineup, so that’s something I will be keying in on over the next few meets. The theoretical BIG BEST lineup probably has Hambrick, Edney, Finnegan, Priessman, Desiderio, and Harrold, but Kirby and Edwards have proven themselves competitive options if you’re worried about the consistency of Desiderio and Harrold (and when Priessman can’t go because of glass-legs). But those two are also a little bit more likely to stay in the 9.8s rather than go 9.9s. Will LSU ultimately decide to go big, or go hit?

Georgia doesn’t have a ton to gain this week rankings-wise being at home and already with three reasonably high home scores, so mostly just be on SchildWatch 2018 to see how that’s progressing. Her presence on as many events as possible is essential to Georgia’s postseason hopes and chance of improving that ranking when returning to the road meets.

LSU has the scoring advantage on all four events, though do watch to see if Home Floor™ comes through for Georgia since Georgia has enjoyed one of the most significant home floor bumps in NCAA this season. UGA hasn’t scored higher than 49.125 on floor on the road, yet has reached 49.500+ twice at home. The average score for a road floor routine is 9.730, while the average floor at home is 9.869. That will be necessary again this week to offset the expected lower number on vault.

Arizona @ Arizona State
I could say something about RIVALRY and what a big deal it was that ASU won this meet last season, but mostly I just want to talk about that 145 Arizona scored. I will never stop. Arizona expects to have the suspended gymnasts back for this meet, though that doesn’t necessarily resolve all possible lineup woes. With Bellows out for the season, Arizona is quite limited on vault, especially if Leung is not back yet. If that’s the case, we’re looking at five in the lineup and a few potential low scores. The week before last, Arizona sent up five on vault including Bellows.

The Brannan Conundrum
How does Alabama replace Brannan on bars after her season-ending Achilles injury? The hope would be Childers, but she has been out multiple weeks now with that wrist injury. (Well, I mean, the hope would be Key, but…) Otherwise, if we’re talking about Loeb or Giancroce coming in, that lineup starts to look like trouble. The last thing Alabama needs right now is bars looking like trouble. That has been the good event this year.

Arkansas @ Florida
There will be two separate Carol(e)s judging this meet. That’s all I have to say.

Elevate the Stage
OK, first of all, if you guys can’t figure out how to have live scores for your podium meets, you lose the privilege of having them. That’s the WHOLE THING. If you can’t communicate the results to anyone, just cancel the meet until you figure it out.

This edition will feature Michigan and Denver, presumably competing to see who can be the most successful with the fewest gymnasts. Denver went with 8 last week and Michigan went with 7, so Denver…do I hear 7? I mean, who do you think you are with 8.

AAI Award
The first cut of AAI award (Best Senior Award) nominees was announced today, which will be narrowed down to six finalists, and then eventually a winner.

Very surprised not to see Rachel Stypinski, Morgan Lane, or AJ Jackson on here. Also Amanda Wellick? Others? This award is always so weird.

There’s also the Myia Hambrick snub, but Ashleigh Gnat won last year and I believe there’s something funky like they don’t nominate people from the same school that won the previous year…? Maybe? Anyone want to clarify that? It’s super dumb either way.

Note: Peng Peng Lee was nominated last year, when everyone thought it was her final season, so that’s why she’s not there this year.

Expect it to come down to McMurtry and Price in the end.

 

22 thoughts on “NCAA Week 8 – Schedule and Links”

    1. It is ridiculous… Hambrick was 3rd in AA in nationals 2016, top 10 last year and this year again… Not to mention she competes AA every week when some of these other girls compete AA only at the end of the season. How is she not in the nomination? Jackson should be there as well. I am pissed.

  2. how much do academics/grades come into play for AAI?
    I don’t think Price has academic awards (albeit she’s at an extremely rigorous academic institution) whereas McMurtry has a 4.0 GPA.

      1. Yep, if the two are applying for the same job in the future and I’m the one doing the hiring I look at – Stanford grad vs. UF grad and it’s no contest who I hire. Stanford all the way.

      2. Yes, because school is all that matters . . .

        I have a coworker who graduated from Harvard law. He was just fired because of performance issues.

        School is a factor and it can tell you a bit about ambition, maybe work ethic, likely socioeconomic status, and familial status. But there’s a lot more to hiring qualified candidates than a name on a piece of paper.

      3. Your degree isn’t all that matters. I have an Ivy degree and I’ll be the first one to tell you that success in life is based on so much more than that. Price and McMurtry are both hardworking young women with great futures ahead of them and Stanford and UF are both academically excellent.

    2. I was just wondering how much their GPA and academic honors matters for an award like this.

  3. In regards to LSU’s floor lineup… Lexie Priessman tweeted that it’s a “Geaux big or geaux home kind of weekend”, so maybe that answers the question?

    1. LSU has either never won or hasn’t won since like the 1980s in Steadman Arena – no doubt they would love to earn their first win in a long time there now.

      Are Suzanne and DD really rivals? Haven’t heard much about them since I always though Sarah was Suzanne’s main rival. What’s that story? Do they really “hate” each other?

      Jay Clark would love to get an LSU record road score this weekend and a dominating win.

      What kind of reception with Sami Durante receive – will she get a standing ovation after her bars routine? Will Danna be there to cheer on her daughter? (I really hope so.)

      1. I doubt she’ll get a standing ovation. Do any away gymnasts ever get standing ovations? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. I suspect it’ll be a good crowd for her though, because there will be a lot of Georgia elite members in attendance. So she’ll have friends there for sure.

  5. The UGA floor scoring issue isn’t really an issue of overscoring at home. They have been clearly better at home than away and deserved much higher scores. Look at their away meets: Alabama (two falls, including Marino’s injury), Arkansas (several breaks), Kentucky (Arnold, I think it was her, had a significant error and nearly everyone else was a bit off).

    I don’t know why people have such a hard time believing Snead, Dickson, and Vega can all go 9.9 + on floor and Arnold/Babalis can score solid 9.8s.

    1. I don’t know how other people read “home scoring” but I never saw it as just the judges being super extra crack-y at home. It’s also competing in a very familiar space with a crowd that pumps you up and helps you preform better and all that combined results in the higher home scores. So I agree they’ve preformed better at home but that just makes me worry about their mental game.

  6. Home teams tend to get some benefits, but last weekend Rachel Dickson landed her 2nd pass in a squat and one judge threw a 9.9. It is one thing to give some home scores, but blantant deductions should not be ignored. UGA vaults with the exception of Snead and maybe Dickson definitely get some home scoring. I just hope that vault is also judged fairly, not every full is a 9.8-9.85. There is more to a vault than just the landing. I look forward to watching a great meet and hope there is no drama to take away from the meet.

    1. Thank you for your research! It’s definitly an improvement from no live scoring at all, but what even is that website? Is Toledo in a time bubble and it’s still the early 2000s there?

      1. I think it’s more like anything in which Flo is involved is stuck in a time bubble in the early 2000s.

  9. Is Libby Groden still competing or was she injured? I haven’t seen any scores from her recently

Comments are closed.