#NCAAMGym Week 8 Power Rankings
Every week we’ll release a “Power Rankings,” aiming to provide a fluid picture of how each team across the NCAA is doing at the moment. The idea is to try not to focus too much on scores and look more at the current state of the team. The (+) or (-) next to each team’s name relates to how far they rose or fell from last week’s rankings.
This week’s power rankings are an average based off of the individual rankings of three individuals:
Logan Bradley (former Illinois gymnast)
Ben Cooperman (former Penn State gymnast)
Alex Wittenberg (former Minnesota gymnast)
Andrew Misiolek (former Stanford gymnast)
To see a list of each individual’s rankings, scroll all the way to the bottom of this page.
1. Oklahoma Sooners (-)
Let's see...how do I sum up the Oklahoma Sooners...Yul Moldauer. 88.3. I could easily stop there, but gymnastics is a team sport, and the senior has a great supporting cast who is performing very well. -- Logan Bradley
2. Stanford Cardinal (-)
Stanford again did that thing where they beat Cal in a dual meet. Snark aside, the Cardinal was impressive and again just a hair away from 420. The real story is this coming weekend’s matchup, which we’ve been eagerly awaiting: Stanford will go against Illinois and Minnesota in Champaign on Saturday. It’ll be the first true look at how competitive the team is. — Alex Wittenberg
3. Michigan Wolverines (-)
A solid performance in Norman made it clear that this team does not quite have the ability to catch the OU juggernaut. It did confirm, however, that Michigan is the team to beat in the Big Ten. The Wolverines could very well win both a Big Ten regular season and tournament title, it is just a matter of execution. — Ben Cooperman
4. Illinois Fighting Illini (+1)
Just how good is this Illinois team? Are they the team who put up a 410+ in a defeat of a B1G foe in late-January? Or are they the roughly 400 team we saw in a loss at Nebraska. We’ll find out this weekend as they’ve got a BIG test with Stanford and Minnesota coming to town. — Logan Bradley
5. Minnesota Golden Gophers (-1)
Minnesota had a disappointing loss to Nebraska last weekend and faces a huge challenge this weekend: beating Illinois in Champaign. The Gophers and the Illini will be battling with a Big Ten regular season title on the line, and the outcome of the meet will lend some insight into how the Big Ten championships will play out later this season. The Gophers need solid performances from Shane Wiskus, Shaun Herzog and Vitali Kan to get a win. — Alex Wittenberg
6. Penn State Nittany Lions (-)
Penn State’s decisive win against Navy and Air Force did not tell us much that we do not already know about this team. Backed by Stephen Nedoroscik, they have likely the strongest pommel horse team in the country. The same goes for rings where Isaac Hammett has made a name for himself. What about the other four events? The question of “how good will be Penn State be when they hit?” is slowly turning into “is Penn State capable of hitting?” — Ben Cooperman
7. Nebraska Cornhuskers (-)
Defending their home turf and taking down a B1G rival? That's great. Continuing a downward trend on pommel horse? That's not great. The Huskers' team score on that event has decreased by over a point with every passing meet in 2019. They must right the ship. -- Logan Bradley
8. Iowa Hawkeyes (-)
Iowa didn’t compete last weekend. They’re at home against Nebraska this Saturday, and an upset is far from out of the question. — Alex Wittenberg
9. Ohio State Buckeyes (+2)
Ohio State did not compete this weekend and will face off against Penn State in a Big Ten regular season match up this weekend. — Ben Cooperman
10. California Golden Bears (-)
By this point in the season it seems that we know what type of team Cal is. They’ve got a high floor (meaning you’re not going to see them bottom out in any particular meet), but a somewhat low ceiling (meaning their potential might not be quite as high as other teams ranked similarly). — Logan Bradley
11. Navy Midshipmen (-2)
Navy’s prospects this season took a hit last weekend, after dropping almost 15 points from their season-high performance two weeks prior. All that means is this weekend’s meet at William & Mary is extra important: Navy needs a resounding recovery to put themselves back on solid ground. Bad meets happen, but last weekend was troubling. — Alex Wittenberg
12. Army Black Knights (-)
The Black Knights have looked awesome this year backed by the freshman-senior duo of Matt Davis and Cole Casanova. Army put up yet another score of 395+ this past weekend and are sitting nicely in line for an NCAA Championship bid. — Ben Cooperman
13. Air Force Falcons (-)
Air Force seems to have flown (no, I don't mean to make this a bad pun) a little bit under the radar in 2019 but is just 1.3 behind Ohio State in terms of three-score average. It's probably because there's no single standout gymnast to point to, rather a team full of individuals with no glaring weakness. Don't count them out of the race for a spot at NCAA's. -- Logan Bradley
14. Arizona State Sun Devils (-)
ASU came out on top at the Sun Devil Classic last Saturday. But the team was still well below their season high of 395.9. They’re off this weekend, and that should give the team some time to recharge and focus on getting back into the mid-390 range. — Alex Wittenberg
15. William & Mary Tribe (-)
It was strange to see two meets in one weekend penciled into the Tribe’s schedule, but apparently it was the right move. William & Mary put up back-to-back season highs on their action packed road trip. — Ben Cooperman
16. Springfield Pride (-)
It’s been a bit of trying season thus far for Springfield. After ending January with a mid-380 score, the Pride has seen a significant dip in production on pommel horse and rings. Five-up-five-count is never easy on any event — though PH could continue proving especially tricky for this young team. — Logan Bradley
17. Washington Huskies (-)
Washington stayed in the mid-370s in their loss to ASU. The team was again weighed down by pommels and high bar. Washington is off this weekend and faces Cal on March 10. — Alex Wittenberg
18. UIC Flames (-)
The Flames broke the 360 mark for the first time this year in their last outing despite a disastrous pommel horse rotation. If they can clean things up on that event, they could be within striking distance of the 370 mark. — Ben Cooperman
