Two-thirds of the way through the 2026 season, there is plenty of statistical evidence that Oklahoma women's gymnastics is well positioned to capture yet another national championship in back-to-back seasons.
Oklahoma began the eighth week of the season in the No. 1 spot nationally, a position the Sooners have held now for five consecutive weeks. Women's gymnastics is an NCAA-sanctioned national sport, but it is abundantly clear that the sport is dominated by SEC teams. Seven of the top 10 teams in this week's national rankings are out of the SEC, and the Sooners have already beaten five of them this season.
The Sooners have faced seven teams this season that were ranked in the top 5 at the time of the competition, including No. 2 LSU twice. OU and LSU finished with identical top scores of 197.500 in the season-opening Sprouts Farmer's Market Collegiate Quad. Then, in a dual competition on Feb. 13 in Norman, Oklahoma defeated LSU outright, 198.125-197.925.
Oklahoma has one SEC dual match remaining in the regular season at Arkansas on Friday, but has already claimed the regular-season conference title. The Sooners also have a dual competition against Michigan on March 13 that will conclude the regular-season schedule.
TROPHY TIME IN NORMAN 🏆@OU_WGymnastics x #SECGYM pic.twitter.com/yAUpocvqfe
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) February 28, 2026
OU women gymnasts lead the nation in more than the team rankings
Oklahoma's No. 1 ranking is evidence enough that the Sooners, at this stage of the season, are the favorites to repeat as national champions for what would be their fourth in the last five seasons and eighth overall. That would tie them with Oklahoma softball for the second-most team national titles in Sooner athletic history. OU men's gymnastics owns a dozen of the school's 45 total national championships.
The Sooners have won the national championship in women's gymnastics six times in the past 10 seasons, and twice they finished as national runner-up.
Here are some more notable numbers that demonstrate why the OU women gymnasts continue as the most dominant program in the sport over the past decade:
A record crowd of 10,234 fans packed into Lloyd Noble Center last Friday night -- larger than any Oklahoma men's basketball game this season -- to see the Sooners defeat No. 2 LSU.
Oklahoma is the only team to have multiple gymnasts receive a perfect 10 score this season. Freshman Mackenzie Estep and sophomore Addison Fatta both did so on vault.
There have been 10 team scores of 198-plus nationally this season. Oklahoma owns five of the 10.
The Sooners are the only team to score 49.600-plus at least once in all four events this season.
Beam and vault have consistently been the Sooners' strongest events this season. OU ranks No. 1 in the country in both events. Oklahoma is No. 4 in both bars and floor exercise.
Senior Faith Torrez is one of the best performers in the country on the balance beam. Half of her career routines on beam (28 of 56) have resulted in a score of 9.95 or better.
Oklahoma has just two seniors on the roster this season. Three freshmen -- Estep, Ella Murphy and Kamila Pawlak -- have stepped up in a big way, demonstrating the strength the Sooners are building for the future. That threesome has accounted for almost 30% of OU's total routines this season. Estep has posted 14 scores of 9.90 or more this season, including the 10.0 on vault. Murphy has 12 scores of 9.9-plus, including a career-best 9.5 on beam, and Pawlak has competed in every floor routine, twice posting scores of 9.95, and four times going 9.90.