2022 NCAA Regionals March 30-April 2, 2022

[cats]

It was overscored, but it was also a really good rotation for them. No one ran out or landed with their nose in their ankles.

 

[irichluck21]

A good rotation for sure but not 49.4.
Maryland has taken themselves out. I had them pegged to knock off UCLA.

 

[ucrgirl]

Disappointing to hear about overscoring. I’m mostly working/occaisionally checking scores so I thought they were nailing routines.

 

[Sasha]

Sooo, above the general din about complaints about overscoring (which are understandable), I keep hearing about how OU is SO OVERSCORED. Do they get more gifts than comparable teams, or are people just salty because they don’t like OU?

 

[Kittentoes]

Oh no! Is Leah Smith injured?!

 

[QuietColours]

Thrilled Denver made it through after the season they’ve had

 

[blake]

The home scoring warrants the complaints because at times it’s egregious but most schools get gifts often at home, it’s a reality of the sport. I can remember OU/LSU and maybe a couple other teams in the last few years not having a flag raised on passes that were visibly oob from the camera. Occasionally the judges can be strict so it’s confusing to me they let the scores fly for mediocre performances often.

 

[cats]

Stanford killing it so far!

 

[Kittentoes]

So excited for them!

 

[cuuf]

Wow, great semi-final round! That late meet was awesome, down to the wire. Not sure if you can extrapolate teams coming out of the semi-final and heading into the semifinal, but Michigan surprisingly looks vulnerable, maybe depth is catching up with them? Same with Auburn. Alabama looks to be peaking and a threat. And where the heck has UCLA been? Florida and Oklahoma look locked in for a collision course for the title. And LSU’s inconsistencies caught them at the wrong time. Too bad for Bryant. Does Georgia even have an individual advancing?! Is the Kupets era done?

Suddenly the Auburn regional looks to be the most competitive, all 4 teams, even Denver should put up solid scores, there is zero margin for error, even just a lackluster rotation with no falls could spell doom for UF. Oklahoma regional might be a close second, although I don’t think Oklahoma has to be totally on to advance. That second spot between Cal and Minn could get interesting

 

[Sasha]

Yeah, that’s exactly it. There is a sh!t ton of overscoring this year, and we’ve seen lots of teams get some pretty staggering gifts this year. But it seems like people complain about it more when it happens to OU versus more popular teams ( Florida and UCLA). So I’m trying to understand whether OU is ACTUALLY more overscored than other teams, or if people are just likely to complain less about it when it happens to a team they like.

 

[Dex]

Yes, haven’t been able to see anything, very annoying…

 

[irichluck21]

Do they get more gifts than comparable teams, or are people just salty because they don’t like OU?

Everyone has suspect scoring these days.
Oklahoma has really had suspicious scoring this year. Two 10s on vault in the first meet. Neither of which were perfect 10. The team 9.975’d the most this year with obvious landing deductions to take on beam and floor.
Their tumbling is really watered down compared to most teams. Execution is not taken for lack of amplitude/chest down.

It do feel like some meets this year the scores were .5-.8 higher overall than they should be, though Big 12 was a decently scored meet I still thought 198.200 was too high, but having Trautman back and 6 10 vaults helps.
I honestly feel like the pumped scores were in order to overtake Michigan who held the #1 rank for quite some time. First, because its the “best” seed to have (although no seed is safe if you make mistakes).
Second, because OU has held the #1 ranking for years and wanted to grab it back from Michigan.

If you look at overall overscored teams I would say Georgia and Florida are right up there with Oklahoma. LSU has also had it share of WTF scores. UCLA and occasionally Utah.

I enjoyed Oklahoma for years because they were the best team with clean execution, excellent beam, fantastic floor choreography, and performed under pressure well. Last year and this year the team seems different post Maggie Nichols. But it is hard to feel the same way about a team that now relies on gifts and overlooking obvious mistakes in execution and non stuck dismounts, and OOB where a flag does not appear.

 

[cuuf]

I think Florida and UCLA are high profile enough that they get plenty of criticism, merited or not, for over-scoring. My take on the whole over-scoring complaining? The majority of it is just fan whining. Sure, a purist might balk at some of the scores given out, and I know I certainly complain watching some meets (cough, cough, Suni Lee and her perfect falls). At the end of the day, the better team wins, whether that’s with a 198.4 or a 197.4. I honestly haven’t seen a meet, when it counted, where a team has won the title with questionable scoring. Of course, my memory goes back maybe 10 years. There is a valid debate to be had about if overscoring during the regular season leads to some significant benefits, but I think its marginal best.

 

[Sasha]

Thank you both. That’s what I was looking for. Yeah, as much as the scoring has been egregious, I feel like the rank order of teams is pretty accurate - maybe a couple of smaller teams are getting hosed, but on the whole, they appear to be sorted appropriately.

 

[RedBirdie]

I feel like with Michigan, Oklahoma, Florida, and Utah, their overscores are ridiculous but they’re still the top teams. So the overscoring is annoying because I want to see accurate scoring and truly great gymnastics separated from the fine gymnastics, those are the best teams and them sitting at the top of the rankings doesn’t bother me.

LSU, man, that’s a team that got some seriously generous home cooking scores this year and when they had to go on the road for SECs and Regionals, they got exposed as decided NOT a top-tier team.

Georgia’s overscoring was just so hilarious because it was like, no matter how much you overscore this decidedly average (and at time underachieving team), you still can’t push them into a seeded position.

 

[cuuf]

Idk, about LSU. I mean I wouldn’t say they got exposed because of over-scoring, they had to count a fall. And no team this year is going to advance if you are counting a fall. Not to say that they don’t get overscored, but they didn’t drop out because of being exposed to real judging. They were comfortably ahead going into the final rotation.

 

[irichluck21]

Unluckiest team must be Illinois. They finished in 4th place in their semi-final with 197.375, which would have been enough to qualify into finals in Raleigh (and won semi-final 1) Norman, and Auburn. Obviously Oregon State also would have accomplished the same.

Stanford is the North Carolina State of the year and if Alabama or Utah have to count a break, Stanford could sneak to nationals.

 

[irichluck21]

Here is what the rankings look like after team scores in semi-finals.

It’s gonna be wide open to see who advances.
Stanford, Arkansas, Minnesota, Denver, UCLA, Iowa, Kentucky, Alabama had great competitions.
Utah, Oklahoma, Florida, Auburn, Missouri, Michigan State were consistent.
California and Michigan had rough semi-finals and should do considerably better in finals should they not make as many mistakes.

Right now it does look like Michigan and UCLA will advance. Missouri had a good meet but only 197.150 though that could improve. Iowa is pretty much maxed out at 196.900

Utah and Alabama should advance. Alabama was awesome without Blanco on three events. Though if either team has to count a fall Stanford and Michigan State can pounce. Michigan State was a bit too 9.8509.875 for me in places that they could have broken 9.9 if they were a top tier team.

Oklahoma should advance easily as long as no falls. Minnesota had an outstanding meet and are favored but Cal can make up that .5 difference if they can land vaults better, stick bars dismounts, and Desouza hits floor. Arkansas had a great meet to upset Arizona State (who had a rough meet) and likely to finish 4th.

Auburn regional is the toughest one. Kentucky had a phenomenal performance to place ahead of Auburn. Florida is likely to advance as long as they avoid counting a fall. So Kentucky vs Auburn should be the one to watch. Denver should be thrilled to advance to the regional final but will likely be 4th as they are max at 197.050 a major accomplishment especially with losing 3 key players.

 

[cuuf]

I agree, Auburn regional is by far the toughest left. While Florida has a slight edge, really any of the three (Kentucky, Auburn, UF) could be the 2 to advance. I expect scores to be close enough that just a sub-optimal rotation will spell doom (unless someone has to count a fall). Oklahoma regional might be the next, but only to see who nabs the second spot (Cal or Minn). Otherwise, Mich, UCLA, Alabama and Utah should skate through with just average performances.