Oklahoma gymnastics by the numbers as OU women close in on 3rd straight national championship
By Chip Rouse
At 35-0 this season, Oklahoma gymnastics zeroes in on a third consecutive national championship this weekend as the No. 1 overall seed in the 2024 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships.
The Sooners advanced to their 20th straight NCAA Championship after winning their 14th straight NCAA Regional title and will compete in the second semifinal today in Ft. Worth, Texas. Joining Oklahoma in Semifinal II are No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Utah and No. 8 Alabama. The other semifinal will feature No. 2 LSU, No. 3 California, No. 12 Arkansas and Stanford.
The top two teams from each national semifinal will advance to the Four on the Floor championship finals on Saturday, which will be televised at 3 p.m. CT on ABC.
All six of Oklahoma's national championships have come since 2013 (2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023), and the Sooners have been one of the four final teams for 10 consecutive years and runner up twice (2018 and 2021). The Sooners have had 17 individual champions in the NCAA Women's Championships, sixth most of any program.
The Sooners have defeated six of the seven other teams competing in this year's NCAA Women's Championships, including two wins over No. 2 LSU. Florida is the only team among the final eight that OU did not face this season, but the Sooners defeated Florida in two of the last three NCAA Championships.
The Sooners are believed to have the most difficult semifinal. Only seven collegiate teams have even won a national championship in women's gymnastics, and all four in OU's side of the bracket have won multiple titles. Utah has nine, Alabama and Oklahoma six and Florida three. Those four teams have accounted for 24 of the 42 national championships awarded in the sport.
By the numbers: Oklahoma and the 2024 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship
2 -- Oklahoma is one of just two teams to advance to every NCAA Women's Championship since 2004.
4 -- If Oklahoma, the prohibitive favorite to win this year's NCAA Championships, is successful, the Sooners would be on of four teams (Utah. Georgia and Florida) to win national titles in three consecutive years. Utah owns the all-time record with five consecutive national championships.
7 -- Oklahoma is seeking its seventh national championship and third in succession. The Sooners are tied for fourth all-time. If they win in 2024, they would tie UCLA for third with seven.
10 -- Fifth-year senior Ragan Smith scored six perfect scores of 10 on the balance beam this season and ranks No. 1 in the NCAA in that event.
12 -- The Sooners have posted 12 scores of 198 or better this season. This isn't only the best this season, but it is a new NCAA record. The previous record was 10.