Format review: The top 2 teams in each regional semifinal advance to the regional final. The top 2 teams in the regional final advance to nationals. There is a day off between the regional semifinal and the regional final.
In each regional semifinal, the #1-NQS team starts on vault, #4 on bars, #3 on beam, and #2 on floor, which was decided by random draw. In the regional final, the #3-NQS team starts on vault, #2 on bars, #1 on beam, and #4 on floor.
MICHIGAN REGIONAL
Play-in (Wednesday, April 3, 2pm ET)
Illinois vs Ball State
Afternoon Semifinal (Thursday, April 4, 1pm ET)
[8] Alabama
[11] Michigan
Kent State
Penn State
Evening Semifinal (Thursday, April 4, 7pm ET)
[1] Oklahoma
[16] NC State
Ohio State
Play-in Winner
AA Individuals
Zoe Middleton – Ball State
Raisa Boris – Eastern Michigan
Payton Murphy – Western Michigan
Event Individuals
VT – Victoria Henry – Ball State; Suki Pfister – Ball State; Alana Fisher – Eastern Michigan; Arielle Ward – Illinois; Jaye Mack – Illinois State
UB – Ashley Szymanski – Ball State; Megan Teter – Ball State; Lyden Saltness – Illinois; Mia Takekawa – Illinois
BB – Ella Chemotti – Eastern Michigan; Mia Takekawa – Illinois; Nya Kraus – Lindenwood
FX – Suki Pfister – Ball State; Mia Townes – Illinois; Jaye Mack – Illinois State; Jordyn Ewing – Pitt; Cassie St Clair – Western Michigan
**Event individuals include those from play-in teams so that if they happen to be eliminated in the play-in, they can still compete the next day in the hope of advancing to nationals since individual qualification to nationals is based on the regional semifinal results.
ARKANSAS REGIONAL
Play-in (Wednesday, April 3, 2pm CT)
Boise State v BYU
Afternoon Semifinal (Thursday, April 4, 1pm CT)
[7] Kentucky
[12] Arkansas
Arizona
Nebraska
Evening Semifinal (Thursday, April 4, 7pm CT)
[2] LSU
[15] Minnesota
Oregon State
Play-in Winner
AA Individuals
Luciana Alvarado-Reid – Central Michigan
Kendall Whitman – George Washington
Event Individuals
VT – Sydney Benson – BYU; Sarah Zois – George Washington; Kiera O’Shea – Northern Illinois;
UB – Courtney Blackson – Boise State; Emily Lopez – Boise State; Anyssa Alvarado – BYU; Anna Bramblett – BYU; Alyssa Al-Ashari – Northern Illinois
BB – Emily Lopez – Boise State; Emma Loyim – Boise State; Adriana Popp – Boise State; Brynlee Andersen – BYU; Elease Rollins – BYU; Maya Peters – George Washington
FX – Courtney Blackson – Boise State; Emma Loyim – Boise State; Hallie Hornbacher – Central Michigan
CAL REGIONAL
Play-in (Thursday, April 4, 2pm PT)
Southern Utah v San Jose State
Afternoon Semifinal (Friday, April 5, 1pm PT)
[6] Denver
[9] UCLA
Arizona State
Washington
Evening Semifinal (Friday, April 5, 7pm PT)
[3] Cal
[14] Auburn
Stanford
Play-in Winner
AA Individuals
Maggie Slife – Air Force
Karina Muñoz – Iowa
Lauren Macpherson – San Jose State
Niya Randolph – Southern Utah
Event Individuals
VT – Kayla Pardue – Southern Utah; Keanna Abraham – UC Davis; Megan Ray – UC Davis
UB – Kara Houghton – Sacramento State; Jada Mazury – San Jose State; Isabella Neff – Southern Utah; Brianna Brooks – Utah State
BB – Ilka Juk – Iowa; Katherine Weyhmiller – San Jose State; Ellie Cacciola – Southern Utah; Kennedi McClain – Southern Utah
FX -Emily Erb – Iowa; Jada Mazury – San Jose State; Keanna Abraham – San Jose State
FLORIDA REGIONAL
Play-in (Thursday, April 4, 2pm ET)
Clemson v Iowa State
Afternoon Semifinal (Friday, April 5, 1pm ET)
[5] Utah
[10] Michigan State
Towson
Maryland
Evening Semifinal (Friday, April 5, 7pm ET)
[4] Florida
[13] Missouri
Georgia
Play-in Winner
AA Individuals
Rebecca Wells – Clemson
Syd Morris – LIU
Kylie Gorgenyi – New Hampshire
Event Individuals
VT – Molly Arnold – Clemson; Noelle Adams – Iowa State; Josie Bergstrom – Iowa State; Lali Dekanoidze – North Carolina; Emily Leese – Rutgers
UB – Lali Dekanoidze – North Carolina; Isabelle Schaefer – North Carolina; Avery Balser – Rutgers
BB – Kielyn McCright – Clemson; Noelle Adams – Iowa State; Josie Bergstrom – Iowa State;
FX – Julia Bedell – Brown; Molly Arnold – Clemson; Brie Clark – Clemson; Noelle Adams – Iowa State; Kaia Parker – Iowa State
THOUGHTS:
- So first of all, I was deeply concerned that we weren’t going to get any crazy pronunciations this year, mostly because now there’s a woman hosting and she would, like, do the research instead of just showing up and assuming she could wing it. But we did get some solid ones creep in at the end with Anya Tunner, Neeya Rudolph, and UC Dabritz
- But the real win was the deeply horrible spelling on the graphics. A cursory glance yielded seven missed names, starring Karina Monoz of Iowa. She’s joined on Team Typo by Molly Adams of Iowa State (who is no one), Kaia Parket, Lynden Saltness, Avery Balsar, Julia Bedall, and Miya Randolph, who really got the short end of the stick in this selection video.
- OK, now to the seeded host problem. The ranking-based draw would have paired both Florida and Arkansas, and Cal and Michigan, which couldn’t happen, so the draw had to be rearranged and [whispers] maybe kind of rendered the entire season up to this point moot. There was no real way around screwing someone over given the rules of how the seeded teams need to be arranged, but the winner of getting screwed over is Michigan State (which has to go to a reeeee-ough regional that the ranking was actually good enough to avoid). Denver is in the same sucky boat to some degree, with UCLA getting demoted two spots in the rankings so now Denver has to deal with Cal and UCLA at regionals.
- The one surprise to me here is the draw for Oregon State—a geographically placed team that is going to nearby (checks notes) Arkansas. The expected draw would have had Oregon State going to the Cal regional and probably Arizona State going to Arkansas instead, but those two are switched. I wonder if there was a concern about how deep and tough the Cal regional is already (3 of the top 9 teams) and not wanting to put the best unseeded team there also.
- In the positive category, all the play-in teams are ranked 29-36, so no one got demoted into an extra meet this year that they should have been able to avoid. The only play-in weirdy is the placement of BYU with Boise State. BYU can’t go to a regional site that has its final on Sunday, but I would have thought BYU and Southern Utah to Arkansas and Boise State and San Jose to Cal to maintain ranking integrity.
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They pretty much just placed teams in the regionals by ranking with a few modifications. I was honestly surprised and impressed.
They flipped Arizona/Kent St, Maryland/Nebraska/Washington, and the play-ins. However, they kept the “seeding”. Thus, a team that would be a 5/6/7 seed at a regional was only flipped with another 5/6/7 same seeded team.
This is probably the most fair regional placement we’ve had in the current format. Michigan St definitely got screwed, but I think they still have a shot at advancing. I also hate that Ella Hodges will be fighting out a floor spot with the Michigan/Bama floor workers (and Negrete).
They got lucky because the 5 teams which automatically must go to Mich (because they are within 400 miles) just happen to be ranked 17, 23, 25, 32, and 34 — which works out well for fair seeding based on rank, including 2 legit play-in teams. They didn’t place the rest by rank, they placed by geography and it just so happened to be very similar to placing by rank this season. The single exception is the one Spencer mentioned where they sent Oreg St to Ark and ASU to Cal, which seems a slight nod to balancing the bracket, which is good imo. UGA, Towson, and MD are ranked 20, 21, and 26 which also happens to be a good distribution for fairness of ranks/seeds. But they would have sent those 3 to UF regardless.
Anon is correct. Did you look at the ranking placement, Dave?
If you go by strict ranking:
1. Oklahoma, Alabama, Michigan, NC St, Ohio State, Arizona, Penn St (BYU/So. Utah)
2. LSU, Kentucky, Arkansas, Minnesota, Oregon St, Kent St, Maryland (Illinois/Ball St)
3. Cal, Denver, UCLA, Auburn, Stanford, ASU, Nebraska (Clemson/SJSU)
4. Florida, Utah, Mich St, Missouri, Georgia, Towson, Washington (Boise St/Iowa St)
The final placements are very close to the actual rankings and it worked. It may be partially due to just luck, but it also may be because they wanted to honor the rankings at least a little bit more than past years. This is definitely the most fair distribution we’ve had in a regionals for as long as I can remember. It’s the closest to actual rankings versus some committee.
All that being said, they need to just use pure rankings any way.
Michigan State and Denver got hosed. They really need to stop doing regional host site selection before the season even starts.
I agree with this take. They allow higher seeds to host in the Women’s March Madness and the NIT tourney. So schools can certainly host an event with just two weeks notice. The only downside would be the same schools hosting every single year. With only 4 sites, it would get a bit boring. Basketball, Softball, and Volleyball all have more regional sites, which gives more schools a chance to host.
I also saw one fan saying they could put regional sites at the winner of the conference championship meet. Thus, the winner of SECs, Big Tens, Big 12s, and ACCs would each get to host a regional. I kind of like this idea to spread out the hosts. The downside would be a team like Oregon State getting left out of hosting just because they aren’t in a major conference.
They cannot just select host sites a few weeks before regionals due to the host criteria set by the NCAA. Gymnastics criteria is different than other sports in what is required.
Read bout the criteria here: https://collegegymnews.com/2023/03/27/what-does-it-take-to-host-an-ncaa-regional/
You cannot compare basketball to gymnastics as the later rounds of basketball ARE in pre-determined sites.
This year for men it is Albany and Portland.
The 1st rounds are able to happen at qualified schools because of the number of teams.
Stop comparing gymnastics to other sports because you simply can’t.
First and foremost, basketball games are already in the default set up at the school arenas.
Gymnastics needs to have the equipment moved in and set up.
Additionally there are other requirements that make hosting gymnastics less easy than a game of basketball.
The new criteria set in place with the 4 regionals settings instead of 6 has eliminated various schools from hosting regionals.
In the past schools like New Hampshire, Rutgers, Kent State, Utah State are schools that used to host regionals in the past but are unable to do so now with the new criteria.
Please educate yourself on the criteria before making a simplistic claim of “they can award regionals weeks before hand”. That is not logistically possible.
M, regional hosts must be selected way in advance because hosting a regional is a major effort that requires planning and preparation (resources, hotels, etc). You could not wait until rankings are known to decide on hosts. But … it would be smart if they selected a host or 2 every season that are teams which do not typically make the top 16.
This is absolutely false and yet it keeps getting repeated in comments on gym sites. NCAA Women’s March Madness, the NIT basketball tournament, the Baseball/Softball regionals, Volleyball regionals, and soon-to-be early college football playoff games are all held on-site of the top ranked team. The only one of those with more advanced notice would likely be football. The basketball tournaments find out on Sunday and have to host that very Thursday. It is 100% possible.
@Hosting I thought women’s March Madness regional locations were set ahead of time? I know Gonzaga women weren’t a top seed, but hosted one of the regionals (I was just reading about Utah women being racially harassed where they had to stay in Idaho).
How many football, volleyball, & basketball teams go to each site? I’m pretty sure it’s 4 (including the host) for baseball & softball. That’s many fewer teams than the 9 at each gymnastics regional.
The other difference for most of the sports you listed is that most either have a sport-specific competition location (baseball, softball, football) or are likely to be given priority over other sports or activities using the competition location (basketball). Volleyball is likely closest to gymnastics in terms of popularity & caché in most schools. I also don’t know which of those sports tend to fly commercially vs. private, other than basketball & football generally flying private, or which sports regionals overlap with things like vacations so can use dorms for housing. (Baseball & softball postseasons are mostly after spring term is over)
I’m not saying that gymnastics couldn’t choose regional locations with less notification, I’m just thinking about what makes it different from the sports that already do choose location last minute. It would be interesting to find out what the NCAA or the schools/gymnastics programs think.
Please let all the other ncaa sports that have championships that they are doing it wrong. 🙃
Sorry @ Hosting but it is not as easy as you make it sound.
You cannot compare basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball to gymnastics as those are head to head dual meet matches.
Gymnastics is NOT formatted that way for regional semi finals and finals, where there are 4 teams on the floor.
Please educate yourself on the NCAA regional hosting criteria before stating incorrect information.
Plus you are incorrect about basketball, yes the first round is played at qualified teams home courts but that is a simple enough to do with limited number of teams.
But the semi finals and finals are in prior set locations.
Women’s this year are Portland and Albany for the regional semi finals and finals (Sweet 16 and Elite 8) and Cleveland Ohio for the National Semi Finals (Final Four) and Finals.
The men regionals and semi finals are Boston, MA, Los Angeles, CA, Dallas, TX, and Detroit, Michigan. Finals are Glendale, AZ. These were all selected in advance.
The first two rounds of the women’s tourney is held on-site if the highest seed. There are I believe 4 teams at each location. Softball has 4 teams, as well. Both sports often draw more fans and likely would have more hotel reservations than gymnastics with 8 teams (as much as I hate to say it).
Equipment and training can absolutely be worked around. It’s not as if the schools don’t already have the equipment on-hand. The concern I would have is if there is ever a year where the women’s tourney, the NIT, and gym regionals would all fall on the same weekend. There are some schools who logistically couldn’t host all three due to only having one arena/venue. They would then have to bump the hosting school down one spot.
To everyone saying it’s not possible, you are absolutely wrong. I used to work in event planning at a Power 5 school and often worked with athletics on post seasons. It’s a ton of work but it’s feasible. These universities, especially Power 5s, are used to this kind of thing. Plus, a big football game brings in more people on that one Saturday than pretty much any other sporting event the school will host, including post season games/meets with multiple teams.
To Sally — while the current criteria may not allow for last minute host sites, the criteria can be revised. The argument of this is how it’s always been done stifles progress. I don’t know why so many gymnastics fans are against change to the format, especially if that change would lead to a more fair regionals assignment process. It works for almost every other NCAA sport. Gymnastics isn’t that different. It is 100% possible.
Did he mean UCLA instead of Denver? Wasn’t Denver always going to paired with Cal as #3 and #6 do? And UCLA is now being treated as the 11th place team even though they are ranked 9th.
I think what he meant is that Denver is placed with a #9 ranked team instead of the #11 ranked team as the third seed, which makes it harder for them to go through. UCLA, as the 9th ranked team, should “only” be competing with the #8 Alabama for that second spot (after OK), rather than the higher ranked Denver. Which in a way treats Denver like the #8 team (a two spot demotion). This is also unfair to CAL. Florida and Utah both have a better chance of making it through than CAL now, which should not be the case.
That makes sense but I also can’t see how UCLA would feel neutral about needing to beat 6 instead of 8 (the Kentucky/Alabama situation from last season where 9 prevailed). I guess the point is the top two seeds should get more “protection.”
Denver was always paired with Cal.
But Michigan was the 3rd team according to ranking.
If you are Denver (and Cal) would you rather face Michigan or UCLA right now??
How are judges assigned in the post-season? Are they screened for conflicts like other sports? For example, a ref in a March Madness game was pulled mid-game because it was revealed that they hadn’t disclosed where they went to college (a school that happened to be playing in that game).
I know there was a judge for home Florida meets during the regular season that graduated from Florida and is also a former gymnast. That seemed like a conflict in the regular season, but nothing was done about it. Is the same situation permissible at regionals? I really hope not.
The battle for the vault/floor individual spots at the Arkansas regional is going to be fun to watch. Arkansas, Minnesota, Oregon State, plus LSU/Kentucky if one of them don’t qualify.
Also the bars/beam spots at the Florida regional will be crazy. So many talented athletes that could legitimately challenge for a title will be at home on championship weekend.
Do the AA individuals from a play-in that gets eliminated still get to compete the next day, or only event individuals?