College

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The GIST: About 3,500 (!!!) women across 83 Division I, II, and III gymnastics programs will compete this winter for both individual glory and the single cross-division team natty. Flip yeah.

How it works: Gymnasts compete before a panel of judges in four events — vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise — at meets throughout the three-month regular season. The top 36 teams based on scores, plus 76 individuals not on a qualifying team (12 all-arounders and 16 specialists on each event), are selected for postseason competition.

• Postseason regionals begin in late March or early April to determine the eight teams, four all-arounders, and 16 event specialists who will advance to mid-April’s national championships.

The powerhouses: Only seven schools have ever won the ’ship, with Georgia, Utah, and UCLA flipping to 10, nine, and seven trophies, respectively. But dynasties come in waves and, except for UCLA’s 2018 title, this trio hasn’t hoisted hardware in over a decade.

• Besides Florida’s three-peat run from 2013–15 and Michigan’s 2021 turn, the current queens are reigning back-to-back champs Oklahoma, whose six titles were all snagged in the last nine seasons. Boomer Sooner, indeed.

The GIST: Gymnastics is one of the few college sports where the gals are granted more of the spotlight — and that may be due to the achingly few NCAA men’s teams: There are just 15 NCAA men’s gymnastics teams (12 DI and three DIII) in existence today.

How it works: Unlike the women’s four events, the men compete in six: vault, floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. The 15 teams rep three conferences (the Big Ten, MPSF, and ECAC), with all squads competing for the sport’s single natty.

• From there, the best 12 squads plus the top six individual all-arounders and 42 event specialists not on a qualifying team are selected for the final championship meet which takes place the same weekend as the women.

The bonus teams: Due to the demand for collegiate opportunities, an organization called GymACT organizes school-adjacent squads to grow the sport. GymACT squads compete under NCAA rules and often against NCAA programs throughout the regular season, but they’re not funded by schools or eligible for the NCAA championship. Not very gym-nice-tics of them.

• Programs include teams at traditional Power Five schools like Washington, Iowa, Minnesota, and GymACT’s own dynasty and reigning national champ Arizona State.

The powerhouses: Other than COVID-19 and World War II, the NCAA’s been handing out men’s gymnastics hardware annually since 1938, and Penn State and Oklahoma lead the pack with 12 nattys each.

• Illinois also has a cool 10 titles, but the current mat kings are definitively Stanford: Not only do they have nine crowns, but they’ve snagged the last four. Dominant.

The GIST: Collegiate gymnastics won’t start, ahem, meet-ing until January, but NCAAers also competing at the sport’s elite level are gearing up for a big year as the clock ticks closer to next summer’s Paris Olympics.

• One of the stops along the way? This weekend’s U.S. Classic, an annual summer meet featuring the best Americans on the mat.

The setup: There are multiple qualifying meets to make the USA Gymnastics National Championships, which occur later this month, but the U.S. Classic is one of the most important.

• In order to snag an invite to Nationals, senior elite gymnasts must have either been a member of the previous World Champ team or have earned minimum scores (based on number of events) at a qualifying national or international meet (like the U.S. Classic) in the 12 months prior.

Gymnasts to know: This weekend’s action is especially exciting because the sport’s veritable GOAT, Simone Biles, is returning to competition for the first time in two years, but a whole slate of NCAA talent will be vaulting alongside her. Some of the biggest names? Her Tokyo Games teammates: UCLA’s Jordan Chiles, Auburn’s Sunisa Lee, and Oregon State’s Jade Carey.

• Lee recently announced that she won’t return to the Auburn mat, and Chiles will at least take a gap year from the Bruins. But Carey, along with Florida star and U.S. Classic contender Leanne Wong, will pull double-duty this year, balancing college meets and elite training.

• As for the fellas, who’ll compete in the U.S. Classic for just the second time, a ton of the NCAA’s top talent will take the floor, including Oklahoma’s Fuzzy Benas, Michigan’s Paul Juda, and Stanford’s Asher Hong and Riley Loos.

When to watch: Tonight’s for the junior girlies, but tomorrow’s all about the women’s senior stars. Of the two sessions, the 8 p.m. ET one on CNBC is not-to-miss, stacked with the nation’s best. Then clear your Sunday for the men’s 11:45 a.m. ET and 5:45 p.m. ET sessions, both streaming on YouTube.

The GIST: While the USWNT battles Down Under this weekend, another’s taking the dirt about 5K miles directly north. The No. 1 USA Softball WNT — with an entire roster of current NCAA athletes — will compete in the Japan All-Star Series this weekend. Hey Google, what’s LFG in Japanese?

The dynastic history: Save pandemic years, the three-game series against host No. 2 Japan has been an annual party since 2016. But that’s just the tip of the softball dynasty iceberg between these two national teams, who’ve traded the world Nos. 1 and 2 spots since the rankings began in 2016.

• Japan has the recent Olympic edge, earning gold to the U.S.’s silver in both the 2008 Beijing and 2020 Tokyo Games (the last two times softball was played in the Olympics). As for World Cup play, Japan has four gold medals compared to the U.S.’s nine.

The NCAA stars: Team USA takes a unique approach to the Japan All-Star Series. Rather than rostering the nation’s best, the red, white, and blue instead sends its top up-and-comers to get a taste of international spice and play in front of thousands of fans. That means each of the 16 athletes taking the field this weekend are current NCAAers.

• Helmed by Clemson head coach John Rittman, this squad boasts 2023 collegiate Player of the Year, Clemson’s redshirt senior Valerie Cagle, and Freshman of the Year, Stanford’s Nijaree Canady, in the circle.

• Twelve Division I teams and five conferences make up this Team USA roster, but reigning national champ Oklahoma has the most players with three — including fifth-year Sooner Kinzie Hansen, who’ll hold it down behind the dish.

When to watch: Thanks to the soccer girlies, the late night and early morning starts will fit right into your current sleep schedule: Game 1 started today at 6 a.m. ET and will likely be wrapped by the time you’re reading this, but grab a Saturday night java for Sunday’s 1 a.m. ET Game 2 before Monday’s potential 6 a.m. ET rubber match. Batter up!