2024 MPSF Men’s Gymnastics Championship Preview: Stanford seeks third straight conference title

Stanford is eyeing its third straight conference title at the 2024 MPSF Men’s Gymnastics Championship as it looks to build momentum, but it won’t be an easy task with host Oklahoma having a strong season as well.

The MPSF conference has been fairly grouped in recent years, and this season, Stanford and Oklahoma are sitting first and second in the NCAA, while California and Air Force are sitting eight and ninth.

Stanford and Oklahoma will battle it out for title, although considering their track records during the second half of the season, Stanford is the clear favorite. Then there’s the battle for third between the Bears and Falcons.

Individually, the MPSF is comprised of many top-tier specialists, and the battle for event titles will make the competition one you won’t want to miss.

How to watch the 2024 MPSF Men’s Gymnastics Championship

The 2024 MPSF Men’s Gymnastics Championship will stream live on Overnght on Saturday, April 6 at 3 p.m. ET. You can follow live scores here.

Rotation Order

Individual event contenders

Floor Exercise

Oklahoma’s Emre Dodanli has been dominant on floor this season. With a season low of 14.5 and season high of 15.25, he seems pretty untouchable. Potential upsets include MPSF Freshman of the Year Nico Hamilton and Stanford’s Asher Hong and Colt Walker.

Pommel Horse

The battle for the pommel horse title will likely be the best part of this competition. The MPSF has four of the top six pommel horse swingers in the country: Patrick Hoopes (Air Force), Ignacio Yockers (Oklahoma), Zachary Nunez (Oklahoma), and Khoi Young (Stanford) are ranked second, third, fourth, and eighth, respectively. It’s hard to say who the favorite is because it will really come down to who hits, Young is a good bet as the reigning world silver medalist on the event.

Still Rings

Stanford has the highest NQS, which is 2.467 points above Oklahoma. Asher Hong leads the rings squad with an impressive 14.800 NQS and is the clear favorite to win the event. Other top routines to watch include Mark Berlaga (Stanford) and Tas Hajdu (Oklahoma).

Vault

Vault will also be the other event to keep a close eye on. Depending on whether or not Hong does his Ri Se Gwang will impact the competition. If he does, he will be the favorite to win. We will see a few 5.6 and plenty of 5.2 vaults, which means it will likely boil down to who sticks. Contenders include Taylor Burkhart (Stanford), Colt Walker (Stanford), Khoi Young (Stanford), Emre Dodanli (Oklahoma), Max Bereznev (Oklahoma), Jasper Smith-Gordon (California), and Erich Upton (Air Force).

Parallel Bars

Similar to pommel horse, stellar performances throughout the season make naming a favorite challenging, as plenty of gymnasts have run in the 14.8 and 14.9 range. Khoi Young will likely be the frontrunner, having scored a 14.9+ twice this season. This event will boil down to who is the cleanest. Other routines to watch out for include Fuzzy Benas (Oklahoma), Luke McFarland and Jeremy Bischoff (Stanford), and Noah Newfeld (California).

High Bar

The Sooners have dominated high bar all season and it looks like it will be a battle between Kelton Christiansen, Jack Freeman, and Emre Dodanli for the title. A few potential sleepers include Jeremy Bischoff (Stanford), Garrett Braunton (Air Force), and Fuzzy Benas (Oklahoma).

All-Around

It’s hard to say who will contend for the all-around title since it’s a toss-up who will compete all six events on Saturday. Still, MPSF Gymnast of the Year and reigning U.S. champion Asher Hong (Stanford) will be the fan favorite, having put up an 86+ a few weeks ago, as well as two other scores in the high 84’s. Other contenders include Fuzzy Benas (Oklahoma), Khoi Young (Stanford), and Taylor Burkhart (Stanford).