NCAA Its College post-season time!

[gym_dad32608]

Was at the SEC championships this weekend and got to watch the replays of the Pac-12 and Big 10 champs later. Just saw the brackets came out. Very exciting, I hope others are too. Some thoughts:

• OU, Michigan and Florida are clearly the top 3. I did think there was a big gap between OU and the other two, but not so much anymore. OU is still the odds favorite but a strong meet by either UF or Michigan will definitely test them. Florida statistically has been slightly more consistent than Michigan with no score lower than 197.325 versus Michigan which has had a 196.9 and 197.1 but both have similar ceilings.
• I think regionals will pretty much go chalk with perhaps the Alabama/Kentucky 8-9 match up being the only nail-biter. Of course the usual disclaimer that if a top 8 team has to count a fall, all bets are off.
• Excited for the new shifted format so will be able to see more of the regionals since it will be spread out over the weekend.
• Scoring/judging is an issue across the board. SEC, Pac-12, Big 10 all had gifts to various teams. My only thought is that it will work itself out when the teams are all together, and the right team will win albeit with an incorrect score.
• I do find myself as I watch the various teams who is going to be a covid senior versus who is finishing their careers. Definitely interesting for roster management. Feels like these COVID years have been going forever and there are still this year and next to go.
• Auburn is settling with life without Suni, but they are still a shell of the magic from last year.
• Georgia, while more consistent than last year, still has a long way to go.
• LSU is so talented but I think they are tired. But they are dangerous and can go off. Especially with Bryant and Finnegan
• Kentucky is soooo consistent and good, but I think they are limited by their ceiling. They have had an amazing season and I wish more folks would celebrate what they have been able to do this year. Honestly they are this year's Auburn from last year.

What are other thoughts or interests for the regional sites?

 

[Lucia]

Was at the SEC championships this weekend and got to watch the replays of the Pac-12 and Big 10 champs later. Just saw the brackets came out. Very exciting, I hope others are too. Some thoughts:

• OU, Michigan and Florida are clearly the top 3. I did think there was a big gap between OU and the other two, but not so much anymore. OU is still the odds favorite but a strong meet by either UF or Michigan will definitely test them. Florida statistically has been slightly more consistent than Michigan with no score lower than 197.325 versus Michigan which has had a 196.9 and 197.1 but both have similar ceilings.
• I think regionals will pretty much go chalk with perhaps the Alabama/Kentucky 8-9 match up being the only nail-biter. Of course the usual disclaimer that if a top 8 team has to count a fall, all bets are off.
• Excited for the new shifted format so will be able to see more of the regionals since it will be spread out over the weekend.
• Scoring/judging is an issue across the board. SEC, Pac-12, Big 10 all had gifts to various teams. My only thought is that it will work itself out when the teams are all together, and the right team will win albeit with an incorrect score.
• I do find myself as I watch the various teams who is going to be a covid senior versus who is finishing their careers. Definitely interesting for roster management. Feels like these COVID years have been going forever and there are still this year and next to go.
• Auburn is settling with life without Suni, but they are still a shell of the magic from last year.
• Georgia, while more consistent than last year, still has a long way to go.
• LSU is so talented but I think they are tired. But they are dangerous and can go off. Especially with Bryant and Finnegan
• Kentucky is soooo consistent and good, but I think they are limited by their ceiling. They have had an amazing season and I wish more folks would celebrate what they have been able to do this year. Honestly they are this year's Auburn from last year.

What are other thoughts or interests for the regional sites?

I'm agree with all of your points!

 

[gym_dad32608]

I guess everyone is focused on states lol.

 

[NutterButter]

I guess everyone is focused on states lol.

Possibly, but there might be another explanation...for me it's that I or my DD personally know NCAA kids so it feels a little uncomfortable for me to be commenting. Plus, we have some parents here whose kids are NCAA superstars and that too gives me pause for commenting too much because regardless of my personal thoughts about specific teams...it just feels too personal. The other thing is that both reddit and twitter are more active on NCAA gymnastics.

 

[gymgal]

I'm focused on D3 nationals this week. Next week will turn back to NCAA Regionals. I will say that Towson winning EAGL for the first time was awesome for their program. The rest of the conference meets went pretty much as expected for me. I still believe this is OU's to lose in the end but I expect it to be an exciting final among the top 3

 

[gym_dad32608]

Possibly, but there might be another explanation...for me it's that I or my DD personally know NCAA kids so it feels a little uncomfortable for me to be commenting. Plus, we have some parents here whose kids are NCAA superstars and that too gives me pause for commenting too much because regardless of my personal thoughts about specific teams...it just feels too personal. The other thing is that both reddit and twitter are more active on NCAA gymnastics.

Ya I understand that, but I am in the same position too. I have many close family friends that are competing and I do know that there are a few parents semi-active on this board with profile children. I just try and follow the rule my mama told me, don't say anything that you wouldn't say to their face. There is nothing wrong with an earnest discussion of the teams and critiques. We cant just ignore the reality because we have become so sensitive. But I understand and it does make me a bit sad that we have gotten to this point.

 

[gym_dad32608]

I'm focused on D3 nationals this week. Next week will turn back to NCAA Regionals. I will say that Towson winning EAGL for the first time was awesome for their program. The rest of the conference meets went pretty much as expected for me. I still believe this is OU's to lose in the end but I expect it to be an exciting final among the top 3

Cheers to Towson! I have been loosely following them this season. They have been doing really good stuff. It really is remarkable the level of gymnastics from top to bottom has gotten so good.

 

[Coach Kate]

I have really struggled with getting into college gymnastics recently because the scoring is just so bonkers. It's especially challenging to me because I'm studying to try to become a judge and seeing bent arms, foot form, knees, lack of amplitude, leg separations, steps and hops on landings just get ignored is extra annoying right now. I tried to come up with a way to just rank things without scores - like this is the best routine of the day, second best, etc, but it was easy to do within a team but not to compare teams to each other.

I have also just had a hard time getting into it when so many routines seem so similar. I used to attend several UWashington home meets a year, especially when they hosted UCLA, Stanford, and Utah, and remember a few of their recent-ish regionals, including when they qualified to nationals for the first time in years, and when Oklahoma had Maggie Nichols and came to pay us a visit. It felt electric. I went to the Oregon State dual meet last month and even Jade Carey wasn't enough of a spark to keep me interested, although I did like some of the Oregon State beam series and Skylar (UW) is always a delight to watch.

I also wonder if I would be more interested if there were actually less meets. Seeing the same gymnasts hit the same routines over and over again just isn't exciting. It's easier for me to just watch a video of a particularly good routine. I don't need to watch the same person's "9.95"+ routine 12 different times a year.

Maybe I'm just burned out on NCAA and am waiting for another team or star to really catch my eye and light me up again. A couple years ago, I actually really got into watching Arizona because there was just something special about them, even though they weren't super competitive.

 

[gym_dad32608]

I have really struggled with getting into college gymnastics recently because the scoring is just so bonkers. It's especially challenging to me because I'm studying to try to become a judge and seeing bent arms, foot form, knees, lack of amplitude, leg separations, steps and hops on landings just get ignored is extra annoying right now. I tried to come up with a way to just rank things without scores - like this is the best routine of the day, second best, etc, but it was easy to do within a team but not to compare teams to each other.

I have also just had a hard time getting into it when so many routines seem so similar. I used to attend several UWashington home meets a year, especially when they hosted UCLA, Stanford, and Utah, and remember a few of their recent-ish regionals, including when they qualified to nationals for the first time in years, and when Oklahoma had Maggie Nichols and came to pay us a visit. It felt electric. I went to the Oregon State dual meet last month and even Jade Carey wasn't enough of a spark to keep me interested, although I did like some of the Oregon State beam series and Skylar (UW) is always a delight to watch.

I also wonder if I would be more interested if there were actually less meets. Seeing the same gymnasts hit the same routines over and over again just isn't exciting. It's easier for me to just watch a video of a particularly good routine. I don't need to watch the same person's "9.95"+ routine 12 different times a year.

Maybe I'm just burned out on NCAA and am waiting for another team or star to really catch my eye and light me up again. A couple years ago, I actually really got into watching Arizona because there was just something special about them, even though they weren't super competitive.

Definitely get you with the scoring and routine construction. That is an area of sooooo much discussion on the twitters and reddits, how to change the code to incentivize different routines and more difficulty versus teams just working the code for the safest routines and least deductions. Not an easy answer.

It probably easier to get into NCAA if you follow or root for one team. Of course having a little one with college aspirations and friends already in NCAA will help in the interest area too. Have you tried following Cal? They are in your area and they have some pretty unique routines and one of the beamers Gabby Perea has a rare side sumi - back tuck full dismount that we never see. Kinda worried about UF having them in their regional.

 

[gymgal]

Wonder if there would be a way to award tenths to teams that have more variety. Example 2 or 3 different vault entries, different single bar releases, series, etc.

I don't like the idea of incentivizing increased difficulty. I think it puts gymnasts at too much risk for injury especially with 12 consecutive weeks. And I personally like the 2 pass fx routines as it forces more dance elements and I prefer the balance

 

[Lucia]

Honestly, my daughter and I are having so much fun watching NCAA gymnastics together. Until recently, I'd only followed elite. We are not much of a sports family, but living in ACC territory, I grew up on basketball and March Madness. To have another team sport we enjoy watching has been refreshing and good bonding time. I have my favorite teams but also root for everyone's successes. I absolutely agree about scoring, but that hasn't taken away from my enjoyment of watching it all through my 10yo daughter's eyes. And speaking of favorites, some things I'm enjoying this season: I have to give props to Utah for showing their tenacity and depth despite Grace McCallum's injury, watching Janelle McDonald's enthusiastic responses to her gymnasts brings me such joy, and getting to see Riley McCusker on beam makes me so happy.