The 2023 NCAA team final was an exciting display of some of the best gymnastics in the NCAA, with defending national champion Oklahoma edging out the No. 2 ranked Florida Gators by a tenth and a half. But did the right team win?
In this article, I rewatched all the routines from Florida and Oklahoma in the final and rejudged them, taking all the deductions I saw, including those that are often missed in NCAA judging—even though they are still very real and valid deductions.
To be fair, I did not take deductions on bars or vault for leg separation, unless it was very large or during a twisting element, as these are nearly impossible to see from a true side view. Also as a disclaimer, the judges chosen to judge the NCAA championships are selected from the most senior and generally well-respected judges that are eligible to judge NCAA gymnastics, all of which have more experience than I do. However, I have the benefit of instant replay and the ability to analyze these routines, catching things that might not be obvious in real time or that are easily missed by a majority of the judges.
To make this easier to follow, I’ve created a table with a row-by-row analysis of each routine, listing the deductions I took. I used the following system to easily compare my…
