As we wait for conference championships to get going, I took a look at the teams that set or matched scoring records during the 2023 regular season. With of course more chances on the way.
*I included Fisk, Greenville, and Simpson for the sake of completion even though, yes, any score would have been a record in their first season.
Of the 84 teams in college gymnastics, so far 20 of them have set records for overall team score, 24 have set NQS records, 23 have set vault records, 12 have set bars records, 28 have set beam records, and 16 have set floor records.
What I find most revealing is that we have the greatest number of teams setting records on vault and beam. 33% of the teams in college gymnastics have set program beam record scores over the last 2 1/2 months, when if anything it was supposed to get harder to score on beam this year compared to last year because of the dismount difficulty rule change.
Meanwhile vault—the event where the reduction in start value of the Yurchenko full for the 2016 season meant everyone but the top teams would see their scores irreparably plummet as parity and the entire sport were destroyed forever (righhhht???)—had another scoring glow up and has now seen over half the teams that existed when the change was made set program vault records since the reduction in value of the Yurchenko full. For reference, team vault scores this season averaged .225 higher across NCAA than they did in the final year of the 10.0-valued yfull, with the greatest increase coming from teams ranked 40 and lower.
Record Team Score
Oklahoma – 198.575
Cal – 198.275
Michigan State – 198.225
Denver – 198.150
Oregon State – 198.075
Kentucky – 197.875
Missouri – 197.850
Arkansas – 197.475
Western Michigan – 197.100
Ball State – 196.900
Rutgers – 196.875
San Jose State – 196.625
SEMO – 196.175
LIU – 196.100
Fisk – 192.400
UW-Stout – 191.550
Rhode Island – 188.950
Gustavus Adolphus – 187.775
Greenville – 186.675
Simpson – 185.175
Record NQS
Oklahoma – 198.300
Michigan – 198.045
Cal – 197.765
Kentucky – 197.630
Michigan State – 197.575
Oregon State – 197.490
Ohio State – 197.055
Southern Utah – 196.765
Western Michigan – 196.590
Towson – 196.375
Ball State – 196.355
UC Davis – 195.965
Rutgers – 195.860
LIU – 195.530
Brown – 194.315
West Chester – 193.795
Southern Connecticut – 192.995
UW-La Crosse – 191.040
UW-Oshkosh – 190.815
Fisk – 190.005
Rhode Island – 186.295
Gustavus Adolphus – 185.210
Greenville – 182.535
Simpson – 182.080
Record Vault Score
Denver – 49.600
Michigan State – 49.575
Kentucky – 49.550
Arkansas – 49.525
Auburn – 49.500
Missouri – 49.450
Towson – 49.400
Rutgers – 49.275
Ball State – 49.250
Temple – 49.250
Western Michigan – 49.250
Bowling Green – 49.225
LIU – 49.175
SEMO – 49.150
Southern Connecticut – 48.725
UW-Oshkosh – 48.575
Fisk – 48.550
UW-Whitewater – 48.500
UW-Stout – 48.100
Simpson – 47.950
Winona State – 47.875
Greenville – 47.675
Rhode Island – 47.350
Record Bars Score
Florida – 49.800
Michigan State – 49.725
Missouri – 49.450
Pitt – 49.400
Towson – 49.400
Western Michigan – 49.325
SEMO – 49.325
George Washington – 49.200
Fisk – 47.550
Greenville – 45.650
Rhode Island – 45.575
Simpson – 43.550
Record Beam Score
Cal – 49.825
Utah – 49.775
Illinois – 49.675
Denver – 49.650
Oregon State – 49.650
Michigan – 49.625
Michigan State – 49.600
Missouri – 49.550
Arkansas – 49.525
Ohio State – 49.525
Penn – 49.475
Southern Utah – 49.450
Rutgers – 49.400
Western Michigan – 49.375
Ball State – 49.350
San Jose State – 49.325
UC Davis – 49.275
Brown – 48.925
Ithaca – 48.825
UW-Oshkosh – 48.825
Southern Connecticut – 48.775
Fisk – 48.725
Rhode Island – 48.475
UW-Stout – 48.225
UW-Eau Claire – 47.850
Gustavus Adolphus – 47.675
Simpson – 47.025
Greenville – 46.925
Record Floor Score
Denver – 49.825
Alabama – 49.700
Cal – 49.700
Michigan State – 49.675
Illinois – 49.525
UC Davis – 49.525
Western Michigan – 49.525
Rutgers – 49.425
Temple – 49.400
LIU – 49.275
Cornell – 49.225
Southern Connecticut – 49.200
Fisk – 48.775
UW-Oshkosh – 48.675
Simpson – 48.025
Greenville – 47.200
Can someone send this to the NCAA as proof to the absurdity of this year’s scoring? I saw many of these rotations and, while wonderful, were nowhere near the caliber of the score they received as a team. Records should mean something and feel well deserved to the athletes. They know when they don’t deserve a score vs when they do.
Hear, hear!
You think NCAA cares about the absurd scores?
Newsflash: They don’t.
NCAA gymnastics is at an all time high in popularity around the country. NCAA meets are being broadcast all over ESPN with Nationals on ABC.
Multiple new programs are being created and several more are in the process of planning the formation of a team.
So no, NCAA doesn’t care about judging or rules or who wins or loses. It has always been about the money.
NCAA couldn’t care less about rules when the organization allowed transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete with women, so soon after beginning transition. This after FINA (the world governing body for swimming) and USA Swimming both stated she was not eligible to compete for USA or international events due to the timeline of her transition.
Not to mention all the years that NCAA capitalized on athletes names, images, and likenesses to rake in billions of dollars in profit.