Collegiate gymnastics has come a long way since the first NCAA season in 1982. Over the past four decades, national championship-winning scores have risen from 148.6 in the inaugural season to 198.3875 in 2023. Before 1993, scores had been increasing slowly, with the 1992 Utah Utes winning it all with a score of 195.65. But in 1993 Georgia took it to a whole new level, winning the NCAA title with a score of 198 and setting an NCAA record. Between 1993 and 2013, the Bulldogs’ score was only surpassed twice at the national championships.
In the years since 2013, higher total scores have become more common. The last six NCAA titles were won with scores of 198 or higher, and this past year was no different as Oklahoma took the title with a score of 198.3875. Between Georgia’s 198 in 1993 and Oklahoma’s this past April, collegiate gymnastics has changed in many ways, from rule changes to competition formats and even which teams are the most dominant.
At the time, Georgia was one of the premier teams in the country. The Bulldogs were known for their elite difficulty and were seldom rivaled by any other school in the nation.
K.J. Kindler, then an assistant coach at Iowa State, saw this elite difficulty firsthand. “They were willing to take risks that other teams…
