March 23, 2026
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What to watch as the 2026 NCAA gymnastics season begins

Sagar09 mins

After an offseason filled with transfers, coaching changes and rule changes, NCAA gymnastics officially makes its triumphant return.

And, of course, there are a lot of questions and storylines heading into the 2026 season. Can Oklahoma continue its dominance and win a national championship once again? Can LSU, Florida, UCLA, Utah or someone else challenge the Sooners in April? Which rule changes will be felt most? Who are the new players who can make an immediate impact? And will Jordan Chiles use any of her iconic “Dancing with the Stars” choreography in her floor routine this season?

The season officially begins Friday as Utah hosts Iowa and Minnesota, with several other meetings taking place throughout the weekend, including a meeting of former conference foes California, Oregon State, UCLA and Washington. Things get even more interesting next weekend as the top eight teams in the country travel to West Valley City, Utah for the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, featuring two meets on January 10. The season concludes with the crowning of a national champion on April 18 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the new season.

A bid again for Oklahoma?

Debates about dynasticism in sports are frequent, as few teams are truly unanimous favorites. But Oklahoma isn’t your typical team, and there’s really no debate — the Sooners undoubtedly are. Dynasty in college gymnastics over the last 12 years.

Since winning its first NCAA team title in 2014, Oklahoma has earned six more. yes, he is Seven Titles in 11 qualifying seasons (the competition was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic). After suffering an uncharacteristic early exit during the semifinals in 2024, which denied them a three-peat, the Sooners used their “Underdog” status as a rally and triumphed once again last April.

The team graduated reigning all-around champion Jordan Bowers and 2024 NCAA bars and beam champion Audrey Davis, and Graduate student Danny Fletcher sees early retirement Due to injury. But senior Faith Torrez — who finished third in the 2025 all-around competition, as well as second on floor and third on beam — remains, as does a trio of talented second-year students in Lily Pederson, Addison Fatta and Elle Mueller. And the Sooners are bringing in the top-ranked recruiting class in the country with Mackenzie Estep, Ella Murphy, Kamila Pawlak and Blakely Rotten.

ranked number 1 in Preseason coaches’ referendumThe Sooners will have their hands full in their second season in the SEC, but they certainly have what it takes to win their first conference trophy and then earn even more hardware in 2026.

remaining sec

In general, the SEC is loaded with talent, stars and, let’s say, passionate fan bases. But how strong is the conference this season? Seven teams are ranked in the top 10 in the preseason coaches poll – and all nine teams in the conference are in the top 12.

Ranked No. 2, LSU is the defending SEC champion and has a shot at the 2024 NCAA title. Former NCAA all-around champion Haley Bryant is now an assistant coach, the team is led by junior Connor McClain, who is expected to compete in all four events after suffering an Achilles rupture in 2025, and sophomore Kailyn Chio, who was SEC Freshman of the Year and claimed the NCAA vault title. The Tigers are a young team, filled with many new faces, but some things haven’t changed at all.

“I would say the goal with the team remains the same,” McClain told ESPN in November. “Obviously, we want to win a national championship.”

Florida is No. 3 and has an amazing amount of star power. Although Leanne Wong has graduated (and won an all-around silver medal at October’s World Championships), there is no shortage of big names. Skye Blakely, a fellow member of the United States World Team, returns for her sophomore year, and Kayla DiCello, a 2024 Olympic alternate and 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year, is back after two seasons away. Another former national team member and Bar standout Riley McCusker is back for a fifth year, and four-time All-American Anya Pilgrim looks to make an even bigger impact during her junior campaign. Senior Selena Harris-Miranda, who earned the conference vault title after transferring from UCLA, will look to end her decorated collegiate career in style, as will California transfer sophomore 10-time All-American EMJ Frazier.

How deep is this team? Florida has 11 gymnasts who can compete on vault with a 10.0 start value and, Per associate head coach Owen FieldsAll 18 gymnasts on the roster are training on beam routines with a 10.0 start value. On paper, the Gators might have been the team to beat – but will they be able to find a way to put everything together and win their first NCAA title since 2015?

Of course, No. 7-ranked Missouri will still be riding the momentum of its program-best third-place finish nationally in 2025, and No. 8 Alabama, No. 9 Kentucky and No. 10 Arkansas are capable of important seasons. The Razorbacks return second-year sophomore Jocelyn Roberson, who won a world bronze medal on vault in the fall, and add senior transfer Morgan Price, who had a storied career at Fisk University and won six WCGNIC titles. She is joined on the team by older sister Frankie Price, also a senior.

Jordan Chiles and UCLA

After Chiles reached the finals of “Dancing with the Stars” and went mega-viral for her “Bow Down” freestyle, the 24-year-old returned to UCLA as the clear face of college gymnastics.

Getting attention or coming off big results was nothing new for the 2024 Olympic gold medalist, and now she’ll look to end her collegiate career with the one thing she hasn’t achieved: an NCAA team title. Chiles, a three-time NCAA individual champion including bars in 2025, helped the Bruins to a surprise runner-up finish last season and will look to take it a step further in her final year.

The Chileans are bolstered by several accomplished new players this year, notably former national team members Tiana Sumanasekera, Nola Matthews and Ashley Sullivan. After a “Meet the Bruins” event in December, Chiles could not hide his excitement about the season and the team.

“2026 is going to be a very fun year,” Chiles told reporters about the No. 4-ranked Bruins. “All of these girls are very special, and our new girls definitely dominated today. I think the best thing is being able to build a team from top to bottom.”

“Everyone wants this year so bad,” said Sullivan, sitting next to Chiles.

new faces

It’s not just UCLA and Oklahoma that have added exciting new players to their teams. There are several first-year gymnasts across the country who could quickly become fan favorites.

Ana Barbosu may be one of the most familiar names joining the NCAA ranks this year. The Stanford freshman has had a stellar international elite career representing his native Romania and is perhaps best known for His controversial bronze medal On floor exercise at the 2024 Olympic Games. Also the reigning European champion on floor, Barbosu impressed during Stanford’s open practices in December — and should be an immediate factor for the Cardinal.

Fellow international elite Charlotte Booth, who was an alternate for the British Olympic team in 2024 and is a former member of the U.S. junior national team, is scheduled to make her debut for Auburn. She had already torn her Achilles, but hopefully she will be somewhat ready to compete by the start of the season and can be a major contributor on bars by Week 1.

And finally, Scarlett Sonnenberg, who claimed the all-around title at the USAG Level 10 nationals in May, is the first five-star recruit in BYU history and could be a game changer for the program. A national champion on beam, Sonnenberg is capable of producing high scores on all four events.

Major changes in national qualifying scores

Although there are rule changes every year, 2026 will see some differences that could have big implications. Most notably, the formula for determining national qualifying scores has been fundamentally changed and limits have been placed on neutral site meets.

Before this year, national qualifying scores were calculated using the scores from exactly six events. But moving forward, it will be calculated with a minimum of nine meetings – and essentially the entire season. will be countedIn this calculation, a maximum of five home meets can be used for NQS and if a team has more than that, the five lowest scores will be counted, At least five distance meetings should also be included, Once those meetings are scheduled, the highest score and lowest score will be removed and the NQS will be based on the average of the remaining scores, That final NQS will be used for placement and qualification for the postseason,

The NCAA said the change was made “with the goal of providing a more accurate reflection of team performance throughout the season by including more meets in the NQS, thereby ensuring a more complete and fair representation of each team’s success throughout the season.” In simple terms, this change will help some teams eliminate home advantage and put more emphasis on road competitions and overall consistency.

in an assistant lecturer From College Gym NewsThe organization determined that this rule change would have affected several teams if it had been implemented in 2025: Oklahoma would have replaced LSU for the top ranking, and West Virginia and UC Davis would not have qualified for the regional. (Instead of George Washington and Washington taking those places).

Also new this year, a team can only count one meeting at a neutral site that is within 30 miles of the school’s campus as one of the “away” meetings in the overall NQS score. Anything extra will be considered a household meeting.

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