NCAA women’s gymnastics: Week 5 Power Rankings & meets to watch

Each week, Gymnastics Now’s NCAA women’s gymnastics writers – Patricia Duffy and Hannah Johnson – will share their “Power Rankings“ for the top 10 women’s teams, providing insight into why certain teams are trending up and others trending down.

These rankings are purely subjective. A (+) or (-) next to each team will signify how far the team rose or fell compared to the previous week.

Hannah Johnson

Intern, NCAA Women

1. Michigan (+3)

Bev Plocki’s team is clicking on all cylinders and received an outstanding 198.3 last time out, the highest score in the country for Week 5. The Wolverines are looking much more confident on beam, the event they have had the most trouble with this season. What’s even more impressive is that Michigan had falls on three of four events and managed to not count any of them toward their team score – that shows the focus of this team. So much momentum is with the Wolverines as they go to host Minnesota in Week 6.

2. Oklahoma (-1)

The Sooners once again look like they could win the title. They earned a very respectable 198.225 score in Week 5 and did so without a perfect performance. They still can clean up landings on some events, especially vault and floor exercise. This team truly looks unstoppable.

3. Florida (-)

The Gators nearly matched their season-high team score on the road at Arkansas. This happened with a bit of a low scoring floor rotation. The Gators closed out the meet with a season-high 49.6 beam rotation. Moving forward, if Florida can clean up their landings on their tumbling passes, this team is in the conversation for the title. 

4. Utah (-2)

The Utes cleaned up bars and achieved a season-high 198.2 in Week 5. While many NCAA fans feel a couple routines in their beam lineup were a bit overscored, it is still extremely strong, which will be important going into postseason. Assuming Lucy Stanhope will be back on vault next week after being out for a couple weeks, the team’s scoring potential can only increase.

5. Alabama (unranked)

The Crimson Tide by far and away put together their most complete meet across all four events in Week 5. The 197.850 came despite only a 49.175 on vault. Coming off a big rivalry win over Auburn combined with the potential to clean up their vaults, Alabama is the team to look out for in the second half of the season. 

6. Auburn (+3)

Despite dropping the rivalry meet against Alabama, the Auburn Tigers enjoyed a season-high 197.7. Auburn is definitely in the conversation for NCAA Nationals once again if they focus on the little details.

7. UCLA (-)

The Bruins went into Utah’s Huntsman Center and earned a great road score (197.45) to use toward their National Qualifying Score. Moving forward, if the Bruins can improve their landings on their Yurchenko fulls, their team score would greatly increase.

8. Ohio State (unranked)

I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: this Buckeye team is legit. Not only did they achieve a program record 49.525 on beam, the team’s 197.575 in Week 5 is the second-highest team score ever. There is no reason this team will be slowing down any time soon.

9. California (-3)

The Golden Bears were excellent on beam, bars, and vault in Week 5. Floor was the event that cost the team a few tenths. Despite this, they still earned a 197.6. If the team can clean up its floor exercise landings, a 198 could very well be in their future.

10. LSU (-)

With a 197.7 in Week 5 – a season high for the Tigers – this team is in a great position as we enter the second half of the regular season. Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan are performing extremely well and are leaders for the Tigers.

Patricia Duffy

Founder, Gymnastics Now

1. Michigan (+4)

At the start of the season, I thought Florida would be Oklahoma’s toughest competition in the Sooners’ quest for another title, but halfway through the season, I think it’s Michigan.

2. Oklahoma (-1)

Oklahoma is literally doing everything right. There is room to improve, which there should be in February, and the consistency and difficulty are there. Michigan just has the momentum this week.

3. Utah (-1)

Utah gets knocked down a peg by me solely because that scoring was… a bit outrageous against UCLA. Both teams are great, and I sincerely think the Utes are a contender with their beam lineup, but we need the judges to come back down to reality to get a real look at where they stand on the national level.

4. Florida (-1)

Am I about to say that… *gasp*… SEC scoring is… reasonable? I won’t necessarily go that far (looking at you, Alabama), but if the Gators were competing in another conference, I think they would’ve already gone 198+ this season. They might have some of the most reasonable scoring of the year across the board among the powerhouses, but there is still room to improve and question marks when looking at their roster depth.

5. Auburn (+1)

Despite losing to Bama by the narrowest of margins, I think Auburn is still the most complete, consistent squad of the two, especially with Suni Lee leading the team. That being said…

6. Alabama (unranked)

I will add Alabama to my rankings this week because, as Hannah said, they put together their best meet of the season against Auburn, even with an uncharacteristic fall on vault. My hang up is: was this a situation where Alabama had some serious temporary momentum from being at home and in a rivalry meet? Or is the Tide finally hitting its stride? We’ll have a better picture by the end of the month.

7. UCLA (-)

Spots 5-7 are really a toss up for me. I debated putting UCLA higher, but I need just a few more weeks of consistent beam scores in the mid-49s to feel confident about that. That’s being super nit-picky though – Janelle McDonald has done wonders for this team already.

8. California (-4)

California literally had a season high 197.600 last week. That’s to say, they dropped in my ranking just because other teams had impressive weeks. The Golden Bears are inching toward a 198 and have some tough matchups the next three weeks against top 15 teams that could push them to that mark. This is their toughest stretch of the season, so let’s see how they fare.

9. Kentucky (-)

I’m leaving Kentucky right here this week. The Wildcats have been up and down since the start of the season. Some weeks they’re mid-196, some weeks they’re pushing 198. Nonetheless, I think there’s still a lot of untapped potential here.

10. LSU (-)

I’m literally sitting here thinking, “LSU, LSU, what to do with LSU?” So I’m leaving them at No. 10. On one hand, the Tigers have a slew of bright spots on their roster (Aleah Finnegan’s double Arabian alone was worthy of that 10), and they’re No. 4 on vault and No. 8 on bars in the nation. That being said, I still have some reservations about the depth of this roster. Just so many question marks since Kiya Johnson went down for the season (Achilles), and apparently, Olivia Dunne tore both of her biceps!? Madness. And yet, the Tigers still keep showing up despite the adversity. I’m excited to see how they perform against Auburn on the road on Friday.

Meets to Watch

Here are some of the exciting matchups we’ll be watching this weekend. All times are ET.

Friday, February 3

• 5:30 p.m. – #19 Minnesota @ #2 Michigan – Live Stats | Video (ESPNU)
• 6:45 p.m. – #15 Missouri @ #3 Florida –Live Stats | Video (SECN)
• 8 p.m. – #9 LSU @ #5 Auburn – Live Stats | Video (SECN)
• 10 p.m. – #7 California @ #13 Oregon State – Live Stats | Video (P12)

Saturday, February 4

• 5 p.m. – #20 Arizona State @ #6 UCLA Video (P12 Insider)
• 6 p.m. – #12 Michigan State @ #17 Iowa – Live Stats | Video (BTN+)