(GYM) ***CLOSED***Gymnastics 2023 - 2024***CLOSED

I think part of the biased announcing was John Rothlisberger admitting at the end of the meet that he has known Raena Worley since she was 6 years old. He picked Kentucky last week and this week as his last final four team after OU, Cal, and LSU. Last week, the lady announcer picked Michigan State as her "surprise" final four team.

Kathy Johnson today did pick UF to be in her final four over Utah and UK.

 

Update on meet score corrections:

1. Morgan Hurd's 9.95 floor score was added to UF's 5 average so the final score for the Gators was 198.225. Road to Nationals made the corrections as well.

2. The reason Lori Brubacher's floor score was raised from 9.750 to 9.850 is that her foot was on the line, but her heel remained above out of bounds. The .1 deduction was taken away and she was hit with just the large lunge backwards of .150. I watched the replay several times and her heel did not hit the out of bounds floor. I'd wager UF challenged the out of bounds deduction.

 

It was the score UF dropped, but Lori deserved the 9.85. Everything else she did past the first pass was perfection.

 

Payton Richards was at the UK meet. The announcer said she has hopes of being back to performing by post season. It would be cool to have her depth back in time for the SECs or the Gainesville Regional. UF is a better team with Payton available.

 

SEC Regular Season Champion:

Gators Gymnastics on X: "The regular season title is ours 2024 SEC champs ✨ https://t.co/YPhISue5iA" / X (twitter.com)

No. 5 Florida Wins at No. 6 Kentucky - Florida Gators

SEC Standings (as of March 3, 2024)

School SEC Record Overall

Florida 6-1 11-1
LSU 5-2 8-3
Kentucky 4-3 7-4
Alabama 3-3-1 9-3-1
Arkansas 4-2-1 7-5-1
Missouri 2-5 8-5
Auburn 2-5 6-7
Georgia 1-6 2-6

The top 4 teams will be in the evening session of the SEC Tourney.

I'm wondering if UF will get the Olympics Order in the SEC Tourney since the Gators won the SEC Championship and beat LSU head-to-head. LSU's higher NQS is for NCAA seeding, not SEC Tourney seeding. I'd like to see LSU's Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde beam team have to finish on beam.

 

Week 9 Teams That Scored 198:

Oklahoma 198.650 (Friday)
LSU 198.325
Oklahoma 198.300 (Sunday)
Florida 198.225
California 198.100
Kentucky 198.100
Denver 198.025

Oklahoma used the same lineups on Sunday as they did on Friday. They usually do an exhibition on the 4 events to develop depth. It could be the sooners Achilles heel is lack of quality depth, can't afford injuries in their starting lineups.

 

Road to Nationals Fully Updated Week 9 NQS Rankings:

Standings (roadtonationals.com)

Minnesota slid out of the top 16 while Oregon State moved into the #16 slot.

 

On December 10 in post #225, I went out on a limb and sawed it off posting my preseason top 12 predictions. The following are my predictions, the WCGA preseason predictions, and where the teams are NQS ranked 1 - 12 after week 9 and 3 meets away from the NCAAs:

ETGator1-------------WCGA-------------Week 9
1. LSU----------------Oklahoma--------Oklahoma
2. Oklahoma---------Florida------------California
3. Utah---------------LSU---------------LSU
4. Florida-------------Utah--------------Florida
5. Michigan-----------UCLA-------------Utah
6. California----------Michigan---------Kentucky
7. Alabama-----------California--------Michigan
8. UCLA---------------Alabama---------Michigan State
9. Kentucky-----------Kentucky--------Alabama
10. Michigan State---Denver-----------UCLA
11. Oregon State-----Michigan State--Denver
12. Missouri-----------Missouri---------Arkansas

I thought Olivia Trautman who always came on late to impact OU's seasons would be a bigger loss that it has been. Others stepped up when called upon.

Still think LSU has the most talent and depth in the nation. The tiggers need to stop putting up Dr. Jeckyl performances on beam and stick a few more landings on vault and bars. Winning the SEC Tourney in New Orleans and a national championship in Dallas is within LSU's reach.

Florida is where I thought the Gators would be, but who could see an SEC Championship and the improvement every meet of the season. Whatever CJR and the gymnasts are doing, keep doing it.

California has overperformed with the help of PAC 12 judging. To me, Cal is a good team, not a great team.

Utah hasn't been their best on vault and bars.

Michigan State is the best team in the B1G, not Michigan, and will be a dangerous team in post season.

Denver is better than I thought after losing Linzie Brown.

Arkansas has basically swapped places with Missouri.

Oregon State is improving late and has moved into the #16 slot in the week 9 NQS.

I have done fairly good on my preseason predictions but have only hit on 10 of the top 12 to date. The WCGA preseason poll has 11 of the top 12 including Oklahoma at the top of the ticket. After nationals, I'll do a final comparison.