Della's Inside the MatchUp For Conference Championship Weekend!

21 Mar Della’s Inside the MatchUp For Conference Championship Weekend!

Posted at 12:43h in 2025 NCAA Headquarters, News & Features by Della Fowler 0 Comments

By Della Fowler

Editorial Contributor

Introducing Della Fowler’s Inside the Matchup

Each week, Della will size up the competition and key matchups dominating Women’s NCAA Gymnastics in this all-new feature. Look for it each week on InsideGym.com and in a weekly video on YouTube! Here’s who we’re watching during Conference Championship Weekend!

Inside The Matchup, brought to you by Della Fowler & Inside Gymnastics Magazine

Alyona Shchennikova - Lousiana State University

MAMA WE MADE IT!!!! We are officially on the path to the postseason! So in the sense that we are putting the regular season in our rearview mirror, the format of Inside The Matchup is going to change a bit. Trust me when I say I’d love to talk about every team in every conference, but that would result in a 10 hour video and a million page feature.

So while I can’t do that, what I can do is get you the inside scoop on the big four conferences that fans are going to be buzzing about. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover so let’s take a look at the SEC Championship first.

SEC Championships: Saturday, March 22

SEC Championship Semifinal One 3:30 p.m. ET| SECN | Kentucky, Georgia, Auburn & Alabama

SEC Championship Semi Final Two 8:00 p.m. ET| SECN | Oklahoma, LSU, Florida & Missouri

Undoubtedly the most powerful conference in collegiate gymnastics, the SEC is cinema-especially come April. I’m going to try to get over the fact that only 8 out of the 9 teams in the conference get to attend but we’ll see how it goes. The thing about this conference, any day, any time, anyone, whether seeded #1 or #8 is capable of getting a win. We saw that in the regular season in so many instances from Arkansas upsets to LSU taking down #1 Oklahoma in the ‘Gymnastics Super Bowl’.

All eyes will be on the night session of Championships as all 4 teams competing are members of the 198 club! In a competition as stacked as this with HALF of the competitors showing they can average 9.9 on every event ( and Georgia knocking at the door), this will be a matter of landings. This is really hard to prepare for because we all know how hard it is to force a stick, but a step here or there could be the difference maker. My personal belief is that the crown will go to one of the two juggernauts in LSU and Oklahoma, but we all know everything can change in a minute. The 1-2-3 punch of Jordan Bowers, Audrey Davis and Faith Torrez is simply bonkers. I have no better word to describe how good they are. But the best part about this season? LSU comes back with Kailin Chio, Aleah Finnegan and THE Haleigh Bryant. Not to mention Florida and Missouri’s stars such as Leanne Wong, Amari Celestine, Anya Pilgrim, Helen Hu, Victoria Nguyen and so many more. Like I said, the SEC is a powder keg for big names, big skills and even bigger talent. When it comes to such a competitive field, mental strength is going to play a huge role here. For each competitor at this meet and beyond, the key is to settle in and stick to the gymnastics you know how to do.

Big 12 Championships: Saturday, March 22

Big 12 Championship Session One 2:00 p.m. | ESPN+

Big 12 Championship Session Two 7:00 p.m. ET| ESPNU

The obvious favorite for this championship is the Utah Red Rocks, they’re in the 198 club, have a deep roster led by 2020 Olympian Grace McCallum and a lot of sheer talent. Carly Dockendorf is an excellent coach when it comes to the pressure of the postseason and I think she’s a key part in why I believe Utah can go deep this year. Everyone has their eye on the postseason during day one of the regular season, but for me Utah has just elevated their game this year. You can see it in the faces of Jaylene Gilstrap, Makenna Smith and more- Utah wants to bring home a lot of hardware at the end of the year and that starts now.

The Big 12 offers a lot of great teams. If you’ve been watching Inside the Matchup all season, you’ll know I also respect the game of Denver Gymnastics. They’ve been able to overcome the loss of a spectacular senior from last year Jessica Hutchinson, which is no easy task. They’ve put in the work to hold firmly at #2 in the conference and we know come meet day, anything can happen. If they get strong performances from Rosie Casali and Bella Mabanta, they could pull off an upset to nab the Big 12 crown.

Big 10 Championship: Friday, March 21 & Saturday, March 22

Big Ten Championship Session One 6:00 p.m. ET| Friday, March 21 | Big Ten Network

Big Ten Championship Session Two 12:00 p.m. ET| Saturday, March 22 | Big Ten Network

Big Ten Championship Session Three 5:00 p.m. ET| Saturday, March 22 | Big Ten Network

Big things are always happening in the Big 10 and this will be no different! While many may think UCLA has this title in the bag already, I’m not counting out Michigan State or Minnesota.

Yes, UCLA is absolutely loaded with talent. Brooklyn Moors, Jordan Chiles, Chase Campbell, the list of strong gymnasts could go on for miles and I think they have a great chance to take home the ‘ship in the first year in the conference. However, their meet at Utah last week showed me some weaknesses that I hope to see differently come the weekend. They hit a 49.175 on vault, which by no means is a bad score, but I know they can score higher. I’m hoping it was just rivalry nerves, but if the Bru Crew wants to take home a trophy they’re going to need to get more sticks and air control on this event.

Michigan State is 4th in the country on Vault so this event could very well determine the champion. The Spartans have everything needed to win a championship, they’ve got the stars in Skyla Schulte and Nikki Smith, they’ve got the specialists in Sage Kellerman and they have clutch performers in Gabi Stephen. Minnesota also sits #3 in the conference right now, but has shown that they can hang with the best of the best with a really strong vault & floor squad. This meet is going to bring so much energy and I can’t wait to see who rises to the occasion!

Mya Lauzon - University of California - Berkeley

ACC Championships: Saturday, March 22

ACC Championship Session One 2:30 p.m. ET| ACCN

ACC Championship Session Two 7:00 p.m. ET| ACCN

I am absolutely loving the growth of gymnastics in the ACC! With Cal and Stanford joining the conference, a lot more eyes are on ACC Gymnastics and as they should be! The regular season champion Cal Bears led by Mya Lauzon and eMjae Frazier have shown that their ‘One Day Better’ mindset is what champions are made of. Cal is really consistent and that’s a great strength to have, but I want to see them start reeling in bigger team scores. What separates teams in the postseason can be as small as a quarter of a tenth so I need them to fight down to the thousandths place behind the decimal point.

This battle should be between the newcomers in the conference as every other team is yet to have an NQS of 197. Stanford’s beam and bars squad are so top notch, and the Cardinal will be looking for a little revenge from tier regular season meetings with Cal. Ui Soma delivers 10able routines every time she touches the bar and having someone like that on your squad is huge in championships.

This is going to be an amazing weekend of competition so be sure to let us know your takes on these matchups! Follow along @InsideGym on all platforms as we’ll be keeping you updated throughout the weekend!

Team Rankings Week 11

Look for Nate’s NCAA Notes each week and stay tuned to InsideGym.com and Inside Gymnastics magazine for spotlight features and interviews throughout the 2025 season!

Nate Salsman, Della Fowler, Megan Roth and Christy Sandmaier provide NCAA coverage for Inside Gymnastics.

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics magazine.