Week 1 Top 25

1.	Oklahoma	197.925
2.	Florida	197.750
3.	Cal	197.475
4.	Michigan	197.400
5.	Auburn	197.350
6.	Utah	197.275
6.	UCLA	197.275
8.	Alabama	196.975
9.	Denver	196.925
10.	LSU	196.775
10.	Ohio State	196.775
12.	Kentucky	196.575
13.	Michigan State	196.550
14.	Missouri	196.425
15.	Illinois	196.275
16.	Arkansas	196.225
16.	Iowa	196.225
18.	Stanford	196.175
19.	Minnesota	196.075
20.	Georgia	195.950
20.	Pittsburgh	195.950
22.	Southern Utah	195.800
23.	Arizona State	195.775
24.	Penn State	195.675
25.	Washington	195.475

Keep That Score

• #3 Cal – Cal was the breakout team of the first weekend, charging into a ranking atop the Pac-12 and ahead of championship final favorites like Michigan and Utah. This 197.475 would have been Cal’s highest road score across the entirety of last season and obliterated Cal’s previous mark for an opening meet score by about 9000 points. You’d have no problem keeping this 197.475 around as a road score in the final NQS picture.   
• #6 UCLA – The Bruins may be disappointed with how the meet ended on Saturday because they were actually in it to win it before a shaky final beam rotation (continuing a theme from 2022), but the fact remains that 197.275 is their highest opening-meet score since 2005 and would have ranked as their highest road score of the entire regular season last year. It’s a much stronger starting point for a team that should nonetheless view 197.275 as only a starting point. 
• #9 Denver – Denver opened with a very strong first display of 196.925, a score that would have counted for the team’s final NQS last season. Lynnzee Brown returned on two events, and Denver’s 49.525 on beam is tied for the top mark in the country (and was achieved without Bella Mabanta even in the lineup). Jessica Hutchinson’s new Y1.5 on vault is gaining outrage traction for its score of 9.850 despite being one of the top 3 vaults we saw all weekend, though I would argue that the problem here is with other vault scores that make this look low, not with this score.
• #10 Ohio State – Ohio State continued its trajectory from the end of last season by starting with 196.775, a mark the team did not reach until mid-February of last year and one that would have been top-5 in their final NQS. This score was also enough to notch a victory over Kentucky, a minor upset against a team that has typically ranked better than Ohio State. 
• #20 Pittsburgh – After missing out on regionals last season, Pitt opened 2023 with a bang on 195.950, a score that would have been their third best during the entire 2022 season. Pitt was aching for a big number every week at the end of last year, and this score should provide a more comfortable basic foundation so the team might not be in an “every week has to be perfect or our season’s over” situation again. 
• #1 Oklahoma – OK, so if we’re being honest Oklahoma probably won’t want to keep this score because they’ll expect to have an entire NQS picture of 198s when all is said and done, but this 197.925 is also one of the highest opening-meet scores we’ve ever seen (and only isn’t an all-time record because Oklahoma always starts this well) and reflects a team that is deep and prepared and able to withstand some absences while still (relatively) dominating a tough competition and winning by over a fall. 

Drop That Score

• #4 Michigan – Michigan will actually be pretty pleased about how the meet ended on Saturday because they showed up with three nation-beating rotations to finish the competition, but a very shaky opening beam performance nonetheless saddled Michigan with a 197.400, which would have been one of its lowest scores of the entirety of the 2022 season. They’ll expect to drop this number.
• #10 LSU – LSU didn’t have a bad opening performance by any means, but it was still a 196.775 (LSU scored higher than that every meet last year until SECs) that paled in comparison to the scores we saw put up at the Super 16. LSU will intend to drop this and move into the 197s as soon as possible. We saw an early-season hole or two in that beam lineup, and as for Olivia Dunne, we’re all talking about how soon she can get into the bars lineup. Right? That’s what we’re talking about?  
• #14 Missouri – Missouri will probably take similar solace to Michigan about how the meet ended on Sunday, with a beam 49.525 that is tied for the national lead and featured a Helen Hu routine that was a dismount away from being the best beam we saw all weekend (including the two 10s). But still, after a counting fall on bars to start the meet, the total ended up at just 196.425, which would have been Missouri’s second lowest of the 2022 season. It’s a drop.  
• #26 Oregon State – The Beavs opened the season on 195.450, lower than any score they got during the 2022 season, so that one’s going to need to go away. That 48.375 on bars was shades of seasons past, and Jade Carey got (gasp) 9.8s. Like some regular 9.8 person.
• #38 BYU – Saturday’s 193.775 ranks as BYU’s lowest meet score since January 2017, so they’ll just want to put that one in the “pretend it never happened” category.

All That Remains Is Chaos

• #2 Florida – 197.750. Is this score great, or is this medium now? Time will tell. Florida may not actually want this to stick around but will be pleased overall by level of the opening performance, especially with a number of gymnasts out of lineups (i.e. Thomas and Wong not doing floor) and a lot of figuring out who the best six are still to come.
• #6 Utah – Utah achieved the main goal of beating LSU for what seemed like a strong meet in the moment…but also for a score of 197.275 that ended up looking kind of meh compared to the teams at the Super 16. Wait on it. Utah will expect to go higher but won’t hate the performance.
• #19 Minnesota – Minnesota opened with 196.025, which based on the standards of last season’s roster would be an obvious drop score (it’s Minnesota’s lowest team score in about 2 years), but considering how much quality was lost and how much lineup rebuilding needs to come this season, this may end up being a solid starting point.
• #20 Georgia – Similarly, Georgia went 195.950, hardly a world-beating number but also a marked improvement over the 194s that started last season—and done with a lineup where over half the routines came from gymnasts new to the team. In the long run, Georgia’s probably going to want to drop a 195, but seen from the perspective of a roster rebuild season, it’s not the worst place to start.

Friday, January 6		SCORES	STREAM
5:00pm ET/ 2:00pm PT	Super 16 A: [21] Washington, Southern Utah, North Carolina, Fisk		BTN
7:00pm ET/ 4:00pm PT	[12] Michigan St @ [7] Alabama	LINK	SECN
7:00pm ET/ 4:00pm PT	West Virginia, Ball St, Lindenwood @ [2] Florida	LINK	SEC+
7:00pm ET/ 4:00pm PT	Penn St, Temple, Penn @ Pitt	LINK	ACC+
7:00pm ET/ 4:00pm PT	Winona St, Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline @ [16] Minnesota	LINK	BTN+
9:00pm ET/ 6:00pm PT	[6] LSU @ [3] Utah	LINK	ESPN2
11:00pm ET/ 8:00pm PT	Super 16 B: [14] Oregon State, [17] Stanford, [20] Georgia, Rutgers		BTN
Saturday, January 7		SCORES	STREAM
3:00pm ET/ 12:00pm PT	Super 16 C: [8] Cal, [18] Iowa, [22] BYU, [24] Arizona St	LINK	BTN+
4:00pm ET/ 1:00pm PT	[15] Arkansas @ Nebraska	LINK	BTN+
9:00pm ET/ 6:00pm PT	Super 16 D: [1] Oklahoma, [4] Michigan, [5] Auburn, [10] UCLA	LINK	BTN
Sunday, January 8		SCORES	STREAM
1:00pm ET/ 10:00am PT	Illinois St, Oshkosh @ Western Michigan	LINK	FREE
1:00pm ET/ 10:00am PT	Bridgeport, So. Connecticut @ West Chester	LINK
2:00pm ET/ 11:00am PT	[11] Kentucky, [25] Arizona, Greenville @ [19] Ohio St	LINK	BTN+
2:00pm ET/ 11:00am PT	Yale @ LIU	LINK	ESPN+
3:00pm ET/ 12:00pm PT	[9] Missouri @ [22] Illinois	LINK	BTN+
3:00pm ET/ 12:00pm PT	Bowling Green @ Northern Illinois	LINK	ESPN+
4:00pm ET/ 1:00pm PT	Penn St, TWU @ [13] Denver	LINK	DU($)
4:00pm ET/ 1:00pm PT	SEMO @ Lindenwood		ESPN+
4:00pm ET/ 1:00pm PT	Winona St, Simpson @ Hamline		FREE
5:00pm ET/ 2:00pm PT	UC Davis @ Sacramento St	LINK	ESPN+
Monday, January 9		SCORES	STREAM
6:00pm ET/ 3:00pm PT	NC State @ North Carolina	LINK	ACC+
9:00pm ET/ 6:00pm PT	New Hampshire @ Southern Utah	LINK	ESPN+
Tuesday, January 10		SCORES	STREAM
7:00pm ET/ 4:00pm PT	Stout @ Eau Claire		FREE

Meets on Monday and Tuesday are considered part of week 2 for ranking purposes.

Links will continue to be added as they become available.

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Meets marked ESPN2 will be broadcast live on TV and can also be streamed online at the link provided for those who have a log-in from a TV provider subscription that gets ESPN2, which is all of them, right?

Meets marked SECN will be broadcast live on TV on the SEC Network and can also be streamed online at the link provided for those who have a log-in from a TV provider subscription.

Meets marked BTN will be broadcast live on TV on the Big Ten Network and can also be streamed online at the link provided for those who have a log-in from a TV provider subscription.

Meets marked SEC+ and ACC+ may be streamed on WatchESPN for those who have a log-in from a TV provider subscription that includes the SEC Network and ACC Network.

Meets marked ESPN+ may be streamed through a separate paid subscription to the ESPN+ streaming service ($10/month).

Meets marked BTN+ are streamed through a paid subscription to BTN+ ($15/month).

Meets marked [School] ($) will be broadcast through a paid subscription to that school’s specific streaming service.

Meets marked FREE are free at the link provided from a school-specific stream.

Before the NCAA season begins, it’s time for the now-annual venture into the murky world of NCAA scoring for those who might want to know a little more about what’s actually going on behind that bonkers 9.950 that just got thrown. Fair warning: you’ll be happier if you don’t

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Composing a routine

Routine requirements

• At minimum, an NCAA routine must include 3 A-valued elements, 3 B-valued elements, and 2 C-valued elements.

That is a basic standard that most college gymnasts are able to achieve comfortably. I give you permission not to worry about it. Gymnasts must also fulfill a series of special composition requirements, each worth 0.2. On floor, those four requirements are

1 – CHANGE FOR 2023 One acrobatic pass featuring 2 saltos. The 2 saltos can be directly connected to each other or indirectly connected to each other within a single tumbling pass, but they must appear in the same line of acrobatic skills. Now, needing a combination is not new. What is new is the definition of an acrobatic pass, which is now defined as “one or more acro elements, one element must be a salto valued at a C or higher.” So the combination now must have at least a C salto in it. We don’t see too many people doing a front lay + front lay middle pass anymore, but that wouldn’t fulfill the requirement for 2023.

2 – Three different saltos within the exercise. Because the majority of gymnasts perform three tumbling passes, one of which must be a combination pass, they tend to have four different saltos in their routines anyway, easily fulfilling the minimum requirement of three.

Some will not have four, either because they are performing a routine with just two passes, or because they are repeating a skill in one of the passes, but they must have at least three different salto elements at some point.

Continue reading WTF Is College Gymnastics Scoring – Floor (2023 Edition) →

Before the NCAA season begins, it’s time for the now-annual venture into the murky world of NCAA scoring for those who might want to know a little more about what’s actually going on behind that bonkers 9.950 that just got thrown. Fair warning: you’ll be happier if you don’t.

---

Composing a routine

Routine requirements

• At minimum, an NCAA routine must include 3 A-valued elements, 3 B-valued elements, and 2 C-valued elements.

That is a very basic standard that most college gymnasts are able to achieve comfortably. I give you permission not to worry about it. Gymnasts must also fulfill a series of special composition requirements, each worth 0.2. On beam, those five requirements are

1 – One acrobatic series. This means two acrobatic flight elements, directly connected, with at least one of the elements being C value or higher.

By far the most common acrobatic flight series you’ll see is the back handspring + layout stepout (loso) series.

While the concept of an acro series is designed to generate rebounding speed in one direction, a forward + backward series may also be used to fulfill this requirement, even though it’s not really an acrobatic series and in the best cases is still just two distinct elements somewhat near each other. Not that I have any thoughts about it or anything.

Continue reading WTF Is College Gymnastics Scoring – Beam (2023 Edition) →