The college sports spotlight is clearly focused on March Madness and the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament, but there is another championship being contested this weekend, and the Oklahoma Sooners are the No. 1 seed in that one.
With six of the eight SEC schools participating in the SEC Women's Gymnastics Championships this weekend ranked in the top 10 nationally, this weekend's SEC competition is as good a preview of this year's NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships as you can get.
Oklahoma, ranked No. 1 in the country, is competing in its first SEC Women's Gymnastics Championship, which takes place on Saturday at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The Sooners finished tied for first with No. 2 LSU in the SEC regular-season standings, both with 7-1 records.
OU was 15-1 overall this season. The one blemish on the Sooners' 2025 record came against LSU, the reigning national champions, in a dual meet Feb. 14 in Baton Rouge.
The Sooners defeated LSU 197.950-197.650 in the Sprouts Farmer's Market Collegiate Quad in Oklahoma City in early January. LSU returned the favor, besting OU 198.050-197.675 a month later at LSU.
OU may be new to the SEC, but the Sooners are not new to winning conference and national championships in gymnastics. The Oklahoma women have won six national championships -- most recently back-to-back in 2022 and 2023 -- and they own 20 conference championships, including 13 of the last 14 as members of the Big 12.
The Sooners earned the 1-seed in this week's SEC championships by virtue of having the highest national qualifying score (NQS), which is the chief metric used in determining seeding for the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships. Oklahoma (198.040) and LSU (198.005) are the only two schools with an NQS above 198.
Six teams from the SEC rank in the top 10 nationally based on NQS scores. No. 3 Florida, No. 7 Missouri, No. 8 Kentucky and No. 10 Georgia are the other SEC teams in the top 10.
The Sooners are ranked in the top three nationally in all four team events, and three OU gymnasts are ranked in the top four in individual events. Oklahoma ranks No. 1 in the country on bars, beam and floor exercise and No. 3 on vault.
Senior Jordan Bowers and junior Faith Torrez are tied at No. 2 nationally in the all-around and the duo also share the top ranking on floor. Torrez is No. 2 on vault and No. 3 on beam. Bowers holds down the No. 4 spot on beam. Additionally, graduate Audrey Davis is No. 2 on bars.
OU will compete in the last session on Saturday, along with No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida and No. 4 Missouri. The afternoon session will consist of No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Auburn and No. 8 Alabama.
Only eight teams compete in the SEC Women's Gymnastics Championships. Arkansas, the only other SEC school with a gymnastics program and ranked 16th in the country, was left out of the championships.
Both sessions will be televised on SEC Network. The afternoon session begins at 2:30 p.m. CT, with the night session starting at 7 p.m.
Oklahoma freshman gymnast Addison Fatta this week was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week. She shared that award with Kailin Chiu of LSU and is one of seven different Sooners who has received a conference-best 12 weekly honors this season. Fatta is one of two OU freshman to be honored this season. The Sooners are the only SEC team to have two freshmen receive a weekly honor, which underscores the depth of the OU squad.