Under the bright lights of Dickies Arena Thursday afternoon, No. 3 Florida showed up and showed out in the first NCAA Gymnastics Tournament semifinal.
Facing off against three other top-7 programs (No. 3 Louisiana State, No. 6 Georgia and No. 7 Stanford), the Gators stormed to victory with a 197.7875 tally, over three-tenths higher than the second-place Tigers.
Now, the focus turns to Saturday afternoon, where Florida will battle with LSU, No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 13 Minnesota in the Four on the Floor. The top squad will claim the national crown, an honor Florida hasn’t captured since 2015.
With all the talk set to end Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. Here’s a look at how Florida stacks up against the other squads that are looking to claim a national championship.
No. 1 Oklahoma
For a majority of the 2025 season, Oklahoma has been firmly in the driver’s seat as the nation’s top team. While Florida and LSU’s strong end-of-regular-season pushes closed the gap, the Sooners remain at the top of the leaderboards heading into Saturday.
With a dominant 198.300 performance in the second semifinal Thursday, OU cruised to the final, looking to win its 4th title in 5 years and 8th in the past 12 years.
In terms of National Qualifying Score (NQS), Oklahoma’s 197.980 mark is No. 1 nationally. Further, OU ranks first on the vault (49.543 NQS), second on the beam (49.523 NQS, just trailing Florida), and fourth on the bars and floor routine.
The Sooners have a loaded roster, headlined by 2026 NCAA All-Around champion Faith Torrez. The senior was not even supposed to compete for the all-around crown Thursday, but a late hand injury to sophomore Addison Fatta allowed her to compete on the uneven bars, her fourth event.
Torrez was lights out Thursday, earning a 39.7875 all-around mark, well above LSU’s Kailin Chio’s second-place total of 39.6125. Torrez earned 9.9500 scores on the bars, beam and floor, as well as a 9.9375 on the vault.
Fatta, who was limited to competing on the beam Thursday, is going to attempt to perform on bars Saturday, according to Oklahoma head coach K.J. Kindler.
The sophomore all-arounder is fourth nationally in NQS (39.665 all-around), highlighted by a national second-best 9.955 vault NQS. On Feb. 13 in Gainesville, Fatta nailed her routine and earned a 10.000 score on that event.
Meanwhile, the Sooners boast multiple top 10 NQS qualifiers two of four events. On the vault, freshman Mackenzie Estep and junior Kiera Wells are fourth and fifth, respectively, in NQS. On the beam, Torrez places third, while freshman Ella Murphy is eighth in NQS.
While the Sooners got the best of the Gators 198.075 to 197.575 on that Valentine’s Day eve clash, Florida responded at the SEC Championships in Sooner country, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
There, UF handed OU its only loss of the season thus far, as its 198.175 total barely edged out the Sooners’ 198.150 score.
Since that loss, however, the Sooners have been better than ever, posting 198.000 or better in their last two meets. If Florida wants to claim its first title since 2015, its biggest obstacle is likely the Sooner dynasty.
No. 2 Louisiana State
To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. And in 2024, the best was Louisiana State. Under head coach Jay Clark, LSU has been among the top programs in the nation year after year, and in 2026, the Tigers have continued that excellence.
The No. 2 NQS-ranked team heading into the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers are a staggeringly consistent squad in every event. LSU is ranked No. 1 in the floor routine, No. 2 on the vault and No. 3 on the uneven bars and the balance beam. Neither Florida nor the nation’s No. 1 squad, Oklahoma, can boast top-3 NQS rankings in every event.
While the team's success has been excellent, arguably no gymnast nationally has been as magnificent as sophomore Kailin Chio.
After a fantastic freshman year in which she captured the NCAA vault crown and earned two All-American honors, Chio has turned it up a notch in 2026. She is the No. 1 all-arounder with a 37.795 NQS and has captured 12 perfect 10.000 scores this season across three different events (5 on the balance beam, 4 on the vault and 3 on floor).
Most recently, Chio nailed three 10.000’s in the Baton Rouge Regional on April 2 and April 4, with two coming on vault. However, Chio isn’t the only standout performer on the Tigers’ squad.
Sophomore all-arounder Kaliya Lincoln tied for No. 2 nationally in floor routine NQS (9.960) and scored a perfect 10.000 on the event April 4. She also nailed her routine for a 9.9625 score Thursday,
Meanwhile, junior Konnor McClain ranks No. 8 on the uneven bars and No. 11 on the balance beam in NQS. She returned from an arm injury suffered in the Baton Rouge regional and posted a joint-meet best 9.950 on the balance beam.
Despite Chio and the rest of the squad's superb season, Florida has gotten the best of LSU on three occasions this season.
First, on March 8, the Gators barely edged out the Tigers 198.450-198.325 in the O’Connell Center. During that meet, UF senior Selena Harris-Miranda bested Chio for the all-around crown by 39.850-39.775, capitalized by a 10.000 on the balance beam.
Then, on March 21, the Gators finished first and the Tigers finished third at the SEC Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Florida’s 198.175 score outpaced LSU’s 197.950, with No. 1 Oklahoma’s 198.150 sandwiched between the two squads.
On Thursday, Florida parlayed strong performances on the balance beam and floor to an early lead, while LSU uncharacteristically underperformed on the uneven bars and beam. That gap made it impossible for LSU to catch Florida and nearly allowed Georgia to capture the second spot in Saturday’s meet.
No. 13 Minnesota
The story of the NCAA Gymnastics Tournament thus far has been Minnesota's rise.
The Golden Gophers, who entered the tournament as the No. 13 overall seed (196.842 NQS), have been on a hot stretch as of late, scoring 197.6250 and 197.4625 in the Corvallis Regional Final and the second semifinal Thursday.
With that performance Thursday, Minnesota barely edged out No. 4 UCLA (197.2750) to earn the final spot in Saturday’s meet. It marks the program’s first-ever appearance in the Four on the Floor.
The Golden Gophers were staggeringly consistent on all four events in the semifinal, scoring no lower than a 49.2500 (vault).
Meanwhile, one performer stood out from the rest: senior Brooklyn Rowray. After coming into the NCAA Tournament tied for 46th in balance beam NQS (9.890), Rowray recorded a staggering 9.9625 on her routine Thursday, which clinched her the NCAA balance beam title.
Alongside Rowray, freshman Arianna Ostrum has emerged as one of the top up-and-coming all-arounders in the nation. After earning All-Big Ten First Team honors this season, Ostrum totalled a 39.5375 total Saturday, only trailing Torrez.
Also, junior Jordyn Lyden paces the Golden Gophers in both beam and bar NQS, ranking top-25 in both events this season.
If anything, it's become clear that head coach Jenny Hansen and her Minnesota squad aren’t just along for the ride: They are here to compete.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
Max is a junior sports journalism student in his seventh semester at The Alligator. He serves as The Alligator's assistant sports editor and football beat coordinator. He previously served as The Alligator's sports editor and as a reporter for football, women's tennis, volleyball, lacrosse and sports enterprise. He also has made multiple appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. Max wants to shoutout his cats, Scooter and Zoe, and niche former Florida Panthers players (shoutout Maxim Mamin).
