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Utah’s Amelie Morgan prepares to perform on the bars as they compete in the NCAA regional semifinals for gymnastics at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, April 3, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
No. 4 seed Utah vs. No. 1 seed LSU, No. 5 seed UCLA and No. 8 seed Michigan State
- When: Thursday, 7 p.m. MDT
- Venue: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas
- TV: ESPN2
- Radio: 700 AM
- Stream:WatchESPN
The trends
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Utah’s Grace McCallum performs on the bars as they compete in the NCAA regional semifinals for gymnastics at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, April 3, 2025. McCallum received a score of 10. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
For Utah: The Red Rocks finished the regular season ranked No. 4 in the country, won both the Big 12 regular-season title and the conference championships and capped things off with a Salt Lake City NCAA regional championship.
For LSU: The reigning national champions, LSU is the top-ranked team in the country, won the SEC championships and the University Park regional. LSU has lost just two times this season (against 26 opponents), both losses coming against Oklahoma.
For UCLA: The Bruins finished the regular season ranked No. 5, won the Big Ten championships and finished second behind Utah in the Salt Lake City regional.
For Michigan State: The Spartans qualified for the national championships for the first time since 1988. MSU finished second behind UCLA in the Big Ten championships and placed second behind LSU in the University Park Regional.
The stakes
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LSU gymnast Haleigh Bryant competes on the floor against Arkansas during a meet on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Fayetteville, Ark. | Michael Woods
For Utah: The Red Rocks are back to nationals for the 49th time. In 50 years of Utah gymnastics, the Red Rocks have qualified for nationals every time (the national championships weren’t held in 2020 due to the the pandemic). Utah has finished No. 3 overall for four straight years, often pulling off upsets to do it. A top-two finish Thursday night will give Utah a chance to keep that streak alive or even improve on it. A loss Thursday, however, would hand Utah its worst finish to a season since 2019.
For LSU: The Tigers are the reigning champs and are trying to become only the sixth team ever to repeat as champions. LSU won its first-ever championship last season, after finishing as runners-up three times since 2014. A potential LSU dynasty could be in the making, but only if the Tigers advance to the national championship with a top-two finish Thursday night.
For UCLA: The Bruins are back at nationals after a one-year hiatus. UCLA has an Olympian-laden roster and as many All-Americans as any other team, but hasn’t made it to the Final Four (Four on the Floor) since 2019. Once a perennial national title contender, UCLA has slipped a bit but a return to the Final Four would have the Bruins back where they’ve historically been.
For Michigan State: The Spartans hadn’t qualified for nationals in over 35 years, but MSU isn’t content to just make it to nationals. The Spartans were very competitive against both UCLA and LSU this season and no doubt have aspirations of of qualifying to the Final Four and, once there, maybe even pulling off a surprise national title. A top-two finish Thursday night would signify that the Spartans have moved into the tier of the elite college gymnastics teams.
Gymnasts to watch
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UCLA's Jordan Chiles performs her balance beam routine during a meet against Stanford, Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. | Tracy Herriott
For Utah: Grace McCallum, Avery Neff, Makenna Smith and Camie Winger. Utah’s four All-Americans this season, McCallum, Neff and Smith have been standout all-around gymnasts all year long. As for Winger, as she goes Utah tends to go. When Winger is on (on beam), the Red Rocks thrive. When she is off, the team tends to struggle.
For LSU: Haleigh Bryant, Kailin Chio, Amari Drayton, Aleah Finnegan and Konnor McClain — LSU’s five All-Americans this season. Bryant is arguably the greatest LSU gymnast ever, while Finnegan is one of the greats. Chio has been the best freshman in the country this season and McClain is a threat for a perfect 10 almost every time she competes.
For UCLA: Ciena Alipio, Chae Campbell, Jordan Chiles, Frida Esparza, Emma Malabuyo and Brooklyn Moors. UCLA’s six All-Americans, Chiles is must-watch on multiple events, but especially floor. Moors is also must-watch on floor, while Malabuyo is elite on beam.
For Michigan State: Sage Kellerman, Nikki Smith and Olivia Zsarmani and Michigan State’s three All-Americans, with Kellerman the headliner. Her vault is one of the best in the entire sport and she regularly challenges for a perfect score.
Quotable
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Michigan State's Amy Doyle reacts during a meet on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in East Lansing, Mich. | Al Goldis
Utah head coach Carly Dockendorf: “This year, we’ve been talking about going for a national title at the beginning, which is something we’ve never done before. It was kind of always this taboo thing. You didn’t want to talk about it, you didn’t want to jinx it. But this year we’ve really embraced it. That is what we are here to do. ... I think by talking about that has created more confidence to be able to do it and go for it.”
LSU head coach Jay Clark: “We understand that the level of competition as we move through any tournament bracket increases. We’ve been battle tested, and the SEC championship was a great example of that when you had the top three teams in the country in the same meet, but our team is bought-in and we are maintaining our same approach. The destination is not the definition for us. It’s how we go about getting there that will define who we are.”
UCLA head coach Janelle McDonald: “I think heading to nationals, it’s that same mentality (as regionals), as you’ve got to really stay focused and intentional every step of the way. Otherwise you’re going to open the door for somebody else to run through it. And so heading into nationals, this (the Salt Lake City regional) was a great experience for us, being on the floor with really great teams, and we know what we need to do to really lock in and have a cleaner performance at nationals and to be able to hit our events like we want to there."
Michigan State state head coach Mike Rowe: “I am most excited to take the team to Texas. It has always been great (with the individuals), but we are always wishing the team was (there). They know they have more fuel in the tank, and I think they are going to surprise some people.”
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