One of the biggest problems with women’s NCAA Gymnastics is predictability in results.
Many were happy to see Michigan win Nationals for the first time.
Now we can predict that one of 7 (not 6) teams will likely win next year: Utah, Florida, UCLA, Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, AND Michigan.
… Cue the LSU fans.
How can we adjust the rules to allow more opportunity for upsets?
Dropping Yurchenko 1/1 to 9.95 start helped. In fact, Michigan was the only team with 6 x 10.0 start vaults. They gambled on hitting those. And it worked.
BEST — I think — would be to more to 5-up, 5-count in Regionals and Nationals.
A 6th competitor would be named who could replace one of those five in case of injury. There should be some deduction if that happens — perhaps 0.5 each counting routine replaced.
Abby Heiskell led the Michigan Wolverines to their first NCAA women’s gymnastics national title
