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Oklahoma gymnastics: Moment of championship truth for both OU squads

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Jordan Bowers celebrates after finishing her routine on the bars during OU's women's gymnastic NCAA Regional final at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, April 2, 2022.Ou Women S Gymnastic Ncaa Regional Final
Oklahoma's Jordan Bowers celebrates after finishing her routine on the bars during OU's women's gymnastic NCAA Regional final at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, April 2, 2022.Ou Women S Gymnastic Ncaa Regional Final /
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Not one but two Oklahoma gymnastics teams are competing for NCAA titles on championship Saturday.

The OU women and Sooner men are both competing in the NCAA team finals of the NCAA Championships. Reaching the championship finals has become more of a tradition than anything else for both Oklahoma squads. Sooner gymnastics teams have combined for 13 national championships since 2002 (nine for the men and four for the OU women) and swept the national championships in 2016 and 2017.

Reigning national runners-up in both classes, the Oklahoma women enter Saturday’s championship finals in Ft. Worth, Texas, as the top-ranked team in the country and the No. 1 overall seed in the 2022 NCAA Women’s Championship. Meanwhile Sooner men are the No. 3 seed in this year’s championship.

While the women are seeking a fifth national title on Saturday afternoon against teams from No. 2 Florida, No. 7 Auburn (featuring U.S. Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee) and No. 4 Utah, the Sooner men earned their spot in the finals finishing third in their semifinal qualifier Friday night in Norman.

Michigan finished first in OU’s semifinal session for the men, followed by Ohio State. The other three teams that will compete for the men’s national championship are Illinois, Nebraska and Stanford. Five of these same six teams advanced to the championship finals a year ago, with Stanford prevailing. Ohio State is the only team that was not in the finals last season.

The NCAA Women’s Championship changed its finals format in 2019, going from six teams known as the Super Six down to what is presently four teams billed as Four on the Floor.

The Oklahoma women are the only team that has made it to the finals in each of the past nine seasons the championship has been held. The Sooners have finished no lower than third since 2012 and have ended up first or second every year since 2014. Moreover, OU is the only team in this year’s finals that has won a national title in the past five seasons.

When the Sooner men take the floor at Lloyd Noble Center Saturday evening, they will be seeking a 13th national championship, which would be a new all-time NCAA record.

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