Full schedule and links

Marquee meets

[18] Minnesota @ [16] Nebraska
Saturday, 5:00 CT, ESPNU

The weekend is packed with meets that carry bits and pieces of potential intrigue, fledgling sprouts of urgency as we put the first tentative toe into ranking-implications season, but few of the top-25 teams head into meets with truly uncertain outcomes. An exception: Minnesota’s visit to Nebraska.

Minnesota’s scores have skyrocketed the last two weeks into the high 196s, indicating that one of the favorite criminally underscored teams might not be so criminally underscored anymore—and that this roster has the score to upset a team like Nebraska. Minnesota’s number last weekend was a full point better than Nebraska’s, so while the knee-jerk assumption may be that Nebraska is the favorite simply because Nebraska, this one is not clear.

At the same time, Minnesota’s recent 196s were recorded in relatively minor meets that Minnesota should win, where Minnesota had the best routines on the floor and was free to create its own scoring ceiling. That won’t be the case against Nebraska. This meet, then, is a new proposition that presents both a test and an opportunity—a test of Minnesota’s actual competitiveness against a team that tends to make nationals, and an opportunity to show that competitiveness in front of many more eyes than usual. This is the “Hmm, who is this Lexy Ramler I keep hearing about?” meet.

For its part, Nebraska has managed one strong meet so far this season, the 197.250 home victory over Illinois, and will be looking to return home for a repeat of that score. If that happens, if the vaults are as excellent as they were against Michigan and everyone stays on the other apparatuses, Nebraska should get through this one with a victory and a very much needed score (considering there are four non-keeper numbers already on the slate). But we’ve also seen the dips, we’ve seen the falls and the 195s, and it wouldn’t take even a counting fall to lose to Minnesota here. A 9.6 on beam might be enough.

For sheer closeness, this one—along Stanford’s visit to Arizona State on Sunday as both teams try to prove they’re seriously, legitimately 196s for realsies this time—should be on your list.

[14] Cal @ [4] Utah
Saturday, 1:00 MT, Pac-12 Network

One of the very best meets of 2018 saw Cal score an unlikely upset over Utah by a margin of just .050 on the strength of a crowning Toni-Ann Williams 9.975 in the final floor routine. Continue reading NCAA Week 6 Preview →