All times are in Eastern Time
Friday, January 3rd
#8 Georgia, #11 Oregon State, Iowa, Bridgeport @ Critique Classic Invitational (Lake Buena Vista, FL)
7 p.m. | No stream or live scores as of now.
The 2020 season officially kicks off at the Critique Classic Invitational, and starting the season off at an invitational rather than a regular meet is becoming the thing that all the cool kids do. Bridgeport enters this season as the perennial favorites and 11-time defending champions of the ECAC II, but they will be relying on their massive freshman class to fill up the lineups. Iowa currently sits at #29, and they will be looking to improve on their 31st place finish from last year. I am interested in seeing how much of an impact Ariana Agrapides and JerQuavia Henderson make in their first year. Oregon State became the Cinderella story of last year by beating Florida at Regionals and finishing 6th at Nationals. They certainly would love to prove that this was not a fluke, and they have enough potential in their roster to have another fantastic season. Georgia will hope to keep building off of a good 2019 season, and they will have more room to grow this season as their depth on each event has improved.
#12 Kentucky @ #5 Utah
8 p.m. | Pac-12 Network (cable login needed)
Kentucky will be a fascinating team to watch this year because they have graduated three star all-arounders. Look out for freshmen Raena Worley and Kaitlin DeGuzman to bring new big scores for Kentucky. Despite also losing a lot of big routines, Utah looked good at their Red Rocks Preview, and they showed that they have depth on all four events. With senior Missy Reinstadtler returning to the all-around and freshmen Jillian Hoffman, Maile O’Keefe, and Abby Paulson all likely to contribute, Utah is hoping for a big year. Overall, both teams here will be showing lineups that are very different from what they had last year, but change is not always a bad thing.
Arizona @ #2 LSU
8:15 p.m. | Live scores | WatchESPN (cable login needed)
LSU also graduated an important class, but they bring in a lot of talent too. Kiya Johnson looked good on all events at Gymnastics 101, and Kai Rivers only showed uneven bars, but she can also be a big contributor. Senior Kennedi Edney looks ready to have an awesome final year, and LSU will need her to bring the big numbers at the end of the lineups. LSU can use this meet to ease in their freshmen before the pressure is really on them at the big SEC meets in the next few weeks. Arizona is currently #31, and their lineups from last year remain basically in-tact because they only graduated Danielle Spencer. They have 7 freshmen, but unlike LSU, they will not be needed to contribute immediately. Arizona will be looking to work on their consistency to improve on last year's 35th place finish.
Saturday, January 4th
#7 Denver, #13 Auburn, #21 Arizona State, #25 Penn State @ Collegiate Challenge (Anaheim, CA)
4 p.m. | FloGymnastics (subscription required)
Unless you have sold your soul to the devil (Flo), you will not be able to watch this meet which is unfortunate because this meet is stacked. The early session still features four ranked teams. Denver had a breakout year last year, and they look like they may maintain their momentum with a great freshmen class. Auburn also had a great year, and being ranked in 13th makes them a contender to qualify for Nationals. Look for freshmen Aria Brusch and Cassie Stevens to bring power to the vault and floor lineups. Arizona State graduated an important class, but Cairo Leonard-Baker will still bring big numbers. Three of their freshmen, Juliette Boyer, Gracie Reeves, and Hannah Scharf competed all-around at the Maroon and Gold Scrimmage. Penn State is hoping for Dymiana Cox to have a big year after missing her freshmen season with a torn ACL. They also bring back all-arounder Lauren Bridgens and some great routines from Melissa Astarita (FX), Jessie Bastardi (BB) and Alissa Bonsall (UB, FX).
Illinois, Southeast Missouri @ #16 Missouri
5 p.m. | Live Scores | WatchESPN (cable login needed)
Illinois was #27 in the preseason poll. Rae Balthazor was injured early last season, and her return will be important for Illinois. They will also rely on all-arounder Karen Howell and a freshmen class of 8 to notch another top 25 finish this season. Southeast Missouri finished only 70th overall due to several injuries, but they are likely to improve as they shouldn't struggle to fill up lineups this year. They showed at MIC Championships that they can break 190, but this year they hope to do that more than just once. Missouri lost a lot of routines, but they bring in stars Helen Hu and UIC transfer Alisa Sheremeta who should help Missouri remain a top-20 team.
New Hampshire @ Illinois State
6 p.m. | Live Scores | Free Stream
New Hampshire lost some important routines, but freshmen Kylie Gorgenyi and Robyn Kelley are both potential stars for this team. They will be looking to once again qualify for Regionals. Illinois State returns most of their routines from last year, and freshman Angelica Labat could provide them with a 10.0 start value vault. They finished 3rd at the MIC Championships (UIC and Lindenwood tied for first), so they will be looking to possibly challenge for the title this year.
#1 Oklahoma, #4 UCLA, #9 Cal, #22 Stanford @ Collegiate Challenge (Anaheim, CA)
9:30 p.m. | FloGymnastics (subscription required)
Defending NCAA Champions Oklahoma are known for always starting the season strong, and Ragan Smith NCAA debut will be one to watch. They are the favorites to win here, but UCLA can potentially challenge them. The one problem for UCLA is that they are not bringing in any big scores to improve from last year (and I don't anticipate anyone being able to replace Ohashi's floor scores), so they will be relying on the depth of their upperclassmen. Cal brings in potential star Nevaeh DeSouza, and they are hoping for a big year for a chance to qualify for NCAA Championships. Stanford brings back most of their 2019 routines, and 2019 JO National AA Champion Chloe Widner will bring Stanford big scores.
Sunday, January 5th
Michigan State @ Western Michigan
1 p.m.
Michigan State missed Regionals last year and finished 41st. Freshmen Linda Zivat brings a Tsuk full and a double layout, and Ryanna Head is a potential all-around star. Beam is the event that held them back last year, so they will be looking to improve there. Western Michigan graduated their best all-arounder, Rachael Underwood, and Shailyn St. Brice transferred to UNC. They will be relying on their freshmen, especially Payton Murphy, to fill the holes in their lineups, and look for junior Morgan Spence to have another solid year.
UC Davis @ Sacramento State
5 p.m. | Live Scores
UC Davis finished 39th last year and barely missed Regionals. Although they have lost some key routines, they bring in a large freshmen class, and Kyla Kessler should be returning from her ACL injury. Sacramento State struggled with injuries last year and were thankful to have 5 people in their vault lineup. This year, they should have more options and should improve from last year's 64th place finish.
Note: The meets happening on Monday and Tuesday are not technically a part of week 1 for ranking purposes, but they count for Fantasy Gym, and since I am posting these on Thursdays, I won't have another chance to preview these
Monday, January 6th
#15 Nebraska @ #23 BYU
7:30 p.m. | Live Scores | BYU TV (free, you'll need to create an account)
Nebraska finished outside of the top 10 for the first time since 2013, so they will be looking to improve. It will be interesting to see how Italian elite Clara Colombo's gymnastics translates to NCAA, and Kynsee Roby's return from injury could be big for Nebraska. BYU showed lots of potential last year, and they did not lose many routines, so this is definitely a team to watch out for.
Tuesday, January 7th
Cortland State @ Brockport State
4 p.m.
Brockport State is coming off of a 2019 NCGA Championship, but they have lost many of their key routines, so they will be relying on their freshmen to step up in order for a chance at repeating. Cortland State had a rocky 2019, but it ended well when they unexpectedly finished 3rd at the NCGA East Regional and qualified for the NCGA Championships. Cortland State returns a good number of routines, so this year, they will be looking to improve on consistency.
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