This weekend was conference championship weekend in NCAA gymnastics.

What does this mean? Aside from bragging rights and a ring, it’s not much more than a regular old meet in the grand scheme of things. Scores go into the RQS rankings just like any other week, and these rankings are what determined the regional spots for each team.

All regional championship meets will be held on Saturday April 4. There are six regional meets total with six teams competing at each, featuring the top 36 ranked teams total. The regional at which a team competes is based primarily on ranking, and then also on geographical location.

Regionals determine which teams get to compete at NCAA Championships later in the month. Each regional site will qualify the top two teams to nationals for a total of 12 who get to compete in Fort Worth. Usually, due to the structure of regional placements, the top 12 teams in the rankings can hold onto their spots. Usually. But there are almost always upsets, and that’s where things get interesting.

Individuals from non-qualifying schools also compete at regionals. The individual qualification process for nationals is tough – top two all-arounders not on a qualifying team and if you’re a specialist, you have to win your event. Using the Ames regional as an example, if LSU and Nebraska both qualify to nationals and place the top 6 all-arounders, if you’re from Denver and place 7th, you get to go because everyone ahead of you is already going with her team. But if you’re a bars specialist from Denver and want to go, you have to make sure you beat every single gymnast there.

Below is the regional placement info, and we analyze each team’s potential for making it to nationals.

AMES REGIONAL

Based on the regional qualifying scores, this looks like a clear cut victory for LSU and Nebraska. Okay, so no one here can undermine LSU unless they really implode, but look to Denver to shake things up for the Huskers.

Denver has had spottier meets, imploding a bit more than they would have liked, but they’ve also had some really explosive performances, and if they hit, can easily match Nebraska’s score. They’re also led by senior Nina McGee, who no doubt would love a trip to nationals before she retires, so she will make sure their game is tight.

Nebraska has been pretty consistent this season, but they’ve also made mistakes. In 2013, they went from Big 10 conference champs one week and then missing a nationals bid two weeks later when they fell to the lower-ranked Illinois. If Denver’s on point, it could take just one missed routine to keep Nebraska out.

Individual qualifiers to the Ames regional include all-arounders Kim McRobbie, Jamie Lewis, and Kara Witgen of Air Force as well as DIII gymnasts Courtney Pickett and Katie Fiorilli of UW Whitewater. Jessica Wallander of Air Force qualified as a vault and bars specialist, while Annie Graft and Alexandra Stych, also of Air Force, will compete on beam and floor, respectively.

AUBURN REGIONAL

This should be a no-brainer. You have the two big Alabama programs competing in Alabama on Auburn’s turf? Bama always looks their best in postseason, and in their first season without storied head coach Sarah Patterson, are coming off of a big SEC Championships win, taking the title after defeating the higher-ranked favorites Florida and LSU. It’d take a lot for them to miss nationals and I really don’t see it happening.

This has been Auburn’s best season in years, and they’re not going to give it up at home. If anything, they could probably upset Bama to be the top seed into nationals, but I don’t realistically see any other program breaking in.

Minnesota, next in line, has been hot and cold this season, and while they’ve had enough strong meets to show a solid RQS, they averaged a full point less than Auburn over the past 12 weeks, so it would definitely take a lot for them to make it in.

Individual all-around qualifiers at Auburn include Morgan Lane and Haley Watts of North Carolina, Brittany Stover and Larson Lasek of William & Mary, and Tyra McKellar of Towson. Event specialists include Katie Sassa of Towson for vault, Kaitlynn Hedelund of North Carolina for bars, Lauren Ross of Towson for beam, and Maggie Lundeen of William & Mary for floor.

BERKELEY REGIONAL

This could be an especially fun one, because Cal – ranked 4th out of these 6 – is phenomenal when they hit. They’ve been waylaid by some inconsistent performances, but when everything comes together it’s like magic, and I can see something like that happening for them in what was easily their best season in years, especially at home. Though it sounds impossible for a 4th-ranked team to push into the top two, tell that to Kent State, the lowest-ranked team in their 2011 regional who made it to nationals over Minnesota, Iowa State, Ohio State, and even Stanford…and that was when Stanford was a top 5 team.

I think Cal has more going for them now than Kent State did when they got their spot in 2011, and I think they have more scoring potential than Boise State. While Georgia definitely has a slight edge over the Golden Bears, they’ve has also had bad luck with counting falls and big mistakes this year. And like Nebraska, Georgia is no stranger to the upset, getting edged out by Missouri and Oregon State in 2010, their first year without Suzanne Yoculan.

They’ve been more successful in the past two years, making it not only to nationals but to the Super Six under Danna Durante, but this season has been a little rough around the edges in terms of finding lineups that work. When they hit, they can get a big number; I don’t doubt their talent or ability, but let’s just say I do bite my nails whenever they’re on beam.

If they do have issues with consistency, there’s definitely room for either Boise or Cal to move on up, and then of these two, Cal would seem most likely. But don’t worry about Utah; even though Tory Wilson’s season-ending (and thus career-ending, as she is a senior) at Pac-12 Championships this weekend means they’re scrambling to fill spots in all four lineups, they could still manage a top spot in this field with a mistake or two. I don’t think they have anything to worry about.

Individual all-arounders in Berkeley include San Jose State gymnasts Cami Guyer, Kaitlin Won, and Maddie Herr, Tiana Montell of UC Davis, and M’rcy Matsunami of Alaska. Specialists include Katy Nogaki of UC Davis for vault, Cassie Benning of Sacramento State for bars, Dani Judal of UC Davis for beam, and Kala DeFrancesco of UC Davis for floor.

COLUMBUS REGIONAL

I think this looks like a very straight-forward session. Michigan had a rock solid season, won the Big 10 Championships this past weekend, and seem primed to win this regional title as well.

While the season has been spotty for UCLA, the thing is that I don’t think there’s any other team with the potential to take advantage of them in this session. Throw a dark horse like Denver or Cal into the mix and sure, they’d really have to fight, but these teams here have had plenty of problems of their own.

Pac 12 rival Arizona is even more inconsistent than the Bruins, and they had a huge blow when senior Allie Flores – a rock for her squad – sustained an injury on floor at Texas Woman’s earlier this month. They’ve still managed to perform well without her but it’ll be hard to beat UCLA, who bested them by over a point at Pac 12 Championships this weekend.

And we all know about poor Kentucky. At the beginning of the year, this was looking like their best season ever, and then they got hit with injury after injury after injury. It hasn’t brought their spirit down, and they actually managed a great upset against SEC rival Auburn at home earlier this month, so they definitely have the heart. But will heart be enough to defeat a team averaging nearly a point and a half higher in a pressure situation?

Individual all-arounders in Columbus include Alyssa Nocella of Bowling Green, Anna Willette and Carrina Lo Bello of Eastern Michigan, and Anna Corbett and Kelsey Hood of Western Michigan. Event specialists include Jessi Buis of Western Michigan for vault, Jessie Peszek of Western Michigan for bars, and Rachel Stypinski of Kent State for beam and floor.

MORGANTOWN REGIONAL

Congrats Florida, you’re going to nationals. Next?

The real battle here is going to be for second place, and I could see Stanford and Illinois both making it happen. On paper, Stanford looks like the front-runner, but Illinois actually has a higher team average and their scoring potential is pretty equal. For these two, it’ll come down to who’s best when it counts, and it could easily go either way.

There’s also a chance for Arkansas to slip in, but it’s not going to be easy. They’re not as strong this year as they’ve been in the past, going from a traditional top 12 team to 19th as of the most recent rankings update, and their high this year is just 196.650 in a world of 197s and 198s. They do have a lot of great individual talent, however, and if they can make everything come together in West Virginia, they could put up a fight for the second spot.

Individuals in Morgantown’s all-around include Sasha Tsikhanovich of Bridgeport, Diana Walters of Brown, Majesta Valentine of West Chester, Jorden Mitchell of Brown, and Elizabeth Groden of Rutgers. Event specialists include Luisa Leal of Rutgers for vault, Jenna Williams of Rutgers for bars, Lindsay Offutt of Pittsburgh for beam, and Caitlin Perry of Bridgeport for floor.

NORMAN REGIONAL

Like Florida, Oklahoma should start packing their bags now. They’ll be at nationals no matter what.

But again, that second place spot is up for grabs, this time between Oregon State and Penn State. They’re basically on equal ground, coming in as the #12 and #13 seeds, respectively. Less than two tenths separate them in RQS rankings, OSU’s average is just 0.07 higher than PSU’s, and they’re both capable of hitting in the low 197s on a good day.

They pretty much meet in the middle in terms of every variable, and they’ll again meet in the middle of the country on April 4 to see who will edge the other out. It’s hard for me to even pick a favorite here, though if I had to, I’d say my heart is with Penn State, who seemed headed for great things this year, especially thanks to incredible all-arounders Briannah Tsang, Sidney Sanabria-Robles, and Krystal Welsh, who hold things together week after week and I want nothing more than to see them at nationals. But same goes for OSU’s Maddie Gardner and their whole floor lineup, with one of the collective best floor rotations in the country (by performance if not necessarily by ranking).

This will be a tough one, but either way a strong team should make it in.

Individual all-arounders in Norman include Gabrielle May of UIC, Taylor Allex of Arizona State, Valeri Ingui and Kierstin Sokolowski of Lindenwood, and Ashley Thomas of SEMO. Specialists include Amanda Stepp of Northern Illinois for vault, Courtney Heise of Lindenwood for bars, Sami King of Illinois State for beam, and Natasha Sundby of Arizona State for floor.

Article by Lauren Hopkins