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

do not know. look back, i have been calling for 49.60+ on floor, win beam, and to improve bars.

 

it is uf's Achilles heel, has been all season.

 

Going back to the start of the season, UF showed signs of having trouble on bars and floor. By midseason, floor had been cleared up for the most part, but bars have been a problem all season. UF has at most three more performances. Maybe we get lucky and have our most complete meets of the season in the regional finals and at nationals.

 

Saturday Regional Schedules:

Saturday, April 6th, 2024

Time Meet Stats Video

5:00 pm ET Michigan Final: OU, Bama, Ohio St, PSU Link ESPN+

5:00 pm CT Arkansas Final: LSU, Arkansas, Kentucky, Minnesota Virti.us ESPN+

The pundits will tell you there has been 3 upsets, Michigan, UCLA, and NC State. However, Ohio State was ranked 12 to 16 all season before dropping to 17 in the last NQS week. I don't consider Ohio State advancing over NC State to be an upset. The bucknuts have been a scrappy team all season and gave LSU difficulty in the tiggers season opener.

 

Gators Bounce Back:

Gators Bounce Back, Advance to NCAA Gainesville Regional Finals - Florida Gators

I feel sorry for Anya Pilgrim. Until she sat on her butt on her final pass on floor, she was on target to be the highest all-around score of sessions 1 & 2. With a 9.9+ on floor, there would be talk around the nation of the UF freshman for having scored 39.700+ all around. I didn't see any deductions until she didn't hit her last landing. It would have been nice for Anya to show up Liliy Smith of UGALY who scored 39.675 after the SEC wrongly awarded her SEC Freshman of the Year award to Smith. Anya will have to settle for the knowledge that UF has advanced while the poodles were sent home in tears after losing to Mizzou by .1. It's always a good day when UGALY loses.

 

Top 4 Team Scores Headed into Regional Finals:

1. Oklahoma 198.050
2. Florida 197.925
3. Utah 197.825
4T. California 197.800
4T. LSU 197.800

There is no surprise as these have been the top 5 teams for most of the season. The top 5 NQS used for seeding:

1. Oklahoma
2. LSU
3. California
4. Florida
5. Utah

The #6 highest regional score is 197.600 scored by Stanford in the Berkeley Regional.

 

Thanks. Corrected it above. OU's score was 198.050.

OU can and will do better but being the first 199 team that was being pushed on them they are not. I'd say at their best they are 198.600. The sooners 1st round regional score will not likely give them the championship at nationals.

 

I'm not so sure about 2022, but I'm certain UF would have won 2023 with Trinity Thomas performing all around instead of just 2 events due to her injury.

College Gym News did a regrade of the national finals a few months later. They determined the meet was a bit overscored and that UF had won over OU. It doesn't change anything, but it did confirm what most of us here were thinking at the time.

 

Thanks for the catch. Yes, it was Arizona State who upset UCLA. The bruins had jitters that showed up in their performances and scores.

 

Two Observations About Regionals That I Do Not Like:

1. The announcers are not onsite which makes it less personable. One would think ESPN has enough announcers to do the regionals right.

2. The NCAA/ESPN separated the meets so there wouldn't be overlaps in tv coverage yet there was still some overlap that required you to watch one meet or the other for 1/2 a meet.