Friday, March 23	Scores	Stream
5:00 ET/2:00 PT – DIII Team Final Brockport Ithaca UW-La Crosse UW-Whitewater Cortland Hamline	LINK	FLO
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – MIC Championship Lindenwood TWU Illinois-Chicago SEMO Illinois State Centenary	LINK	LINK
Saturday, March 24	Scores	Stream
12:00 ET/9:00 PT – ECAC Championship Temple Cornell Brown Yale Penn William & Mary	LINK	Ivy($)
1:00 ET/10:00 PT – ECAC-II Championship Bridgeport West Chester Southern Connecticut		LINK
2:00 ET/11:00 PT – EAGL Championship [19] George Washington [22] NC State Pittsburgh New Hampshire North Carolina Towson	LINK	FREE
2:00 ET/11:00 PT – MAC Championship Kent State Central Michigan Northern Illinois Bowling Green Ball State Eastern Michigan Western Michigan	LINK	ESPN3
3:00 ET/12:00 PT – SEC Championship Session 1 [11] Arkansas [16] Auburn [18] Georgia [21] Missouri	LINK	SECN 4 Events Vault Bars Beam Floor
3:00 ET/12:00 PT – Big 10 Championship Session 1 [14] Nebraska Penn State Michigan State Rutgers	LINK	BTN
4:00 ET/1:00 PT – Pac-12 Championship Session 1 [11] Oregon State [17] Arizona State Stanford Arizona	LINK	P12N
4:00 ET/1:00 PT – DIII Event Finals	LINK	FLO
5:00 ET/2:00 PT – Big 12 Championship [1] Oklahoma [13] Denver [25] West Virginia Iowa State	LINK	FLO
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – SEC Championship Session 2 [2] LSU [5] Florida [6] Alabama [9] Kentucky	LINK	ESPN2 4 Events Vault Bars Beam Floor
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – Big 10 Championship Session 2 [7] Michigan [23] Minnesota [24] Ohio State Illinois Maryland Iowa	LINK	BTN
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – Mountain Rim Championship [15] Boise State [20] BYU Southern Utah Utah State	LINK	LINK
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – Mountain Pacific Championship UC Davis Sacramento State San Jose State Air Force Seattle Pacific Alaska	LINK	LINK
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – Pac-12 Championship Session 2 [3] UCLA [4] Utah [8] Washington [10] Cal	LINK	P12N

The conference championships are upon us once more!

I’ve previewed the Pac-12 and SEC Championships in their own posts, but there will be plenty of other action to follow on Saturday beyond those two meets, like Oklahoma winning the Big 12 Championship. Michigan enters Big Tens as the heavy favorite now that Nebraska has been relegated to the first session, George Washington is looking for a third conference title in four years as well as a score to get up into the top 18, and also there are other meets you’ll pretend to follow then won’t because there’s too much going on simultaneously. (Not autobiographical.)

As part of the project to manage your day, here is the annual composite schedule of all the conference meets:

You will not survive.

More of the smaller conferences should take the cue from the MIC, which is holding its championship on Friday this year instead of Saturday, and therefore everyone is 7000% more likely to watch.

“No one ever pays attention to us!” *holds meet at the exact same time as all the famous schools*

“We don’t get the leotard bonus!” *ensures no one has ever even watched team before*

Saturday is the RQS deadline (can’t record a score for RQS after the 24th), which is also dumb and limiting and should be changed. Put some conference champs on Sunday and Friday. Make a weekend of it.

Remember that the conference championships also usher in the beginning of four-judge season, as opposed to two judges. Now, four judges will score each routine, with the high and the low thrown out and the remaining two averaged. It just means that you have to bribe double the judges to get the score you want.

Danger zone watch
Your danger zone teams this year are New Hampshire, Central Michigan, Iowa, Arizona, Utah State, and North Carolina. Six enter, three will leave.

Check out the RQS Scenarios for specific details about how that will play out and what scores each of the teams will be looking for. It’s a little different this year because the lowest-ranked teams (Utah State and North Carolina) actually control their own fates and could clinch spots with huge scores tomorrow, which would leave Central Michigan, Iowa, and Arizona in the lurch.

New Hampshire is the most likely of the six to advance (needs just 195.500), while Central Michigan and Iowa will be rooting for a low-scoring national atmosphere and lots of misses because everyone’s RQS scores staying the same would be good for them as they currently sit in the top 36.