2025 NCAA Champ Oklahoma Tops Preseason Poll

PER A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE WCGA

Pittsburgh, PA (December 16, 2025) – The University of Oklahoma is the top women’s gymnastics team heading into the 2026 season, as voted on by the members of the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association. K.J. Kindler is the head coach for the Sooners, and she is assisted by Lou Ball, Tom Haley, and Ashley Kerr. Oklahoma will open the 2026 season at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, facing off against a field of fellow preseason top five teams (LSU, UCLA and Utah) in West Valley City, Utah, on January 10th.

1: Oklahoma (1960 points) (39 first place votes)

2: LSU (1859 points) (5 first place votes)

3: Florida (1804 points) (4 first place votes) 

4: UCLA (1784 points) (4 first place votes) 

5: Utah (1751 points) (1 first place votes) 

6: Michigan State (1638 points) 

7: Missouri (1589 points) (2 first place votes) 

8: Alabama (1518 points) 

9: Kentucky (1434 points) 

10: Arkansas (1433 points) 

11: Auburn (1367 points) 

12: Georgia (1332 points) 

13: Stanford (1256 points) 

14: Michigan (1200 points)

15: Minnesota (1199 points) 

16: Denver (1132 points) 

17: Oregon State (1004 points) 

18: Arizona (990 points) 

19: Clemson (985 points)

20: California (880 points)

21: Ohio State (871 points)

22: Iowa (779 points)

23: North Carolina State (739 points)

24: North Carolina (634 points)

25: Arizona State (627 points)

26: Penn State (627 points)

27: Nebraska (598 points)

28: Maryland (567 points)

29: Southern Utah (532 points)

30: BYU (443 points)

31: Illinois (429 points)

32: Boise State (354 points)

33: Utah State (248 points)

34: Washington (240 points)

35: West Virginia (145 points)

36: Rutgers (131 points)

Also receiving votes: Iowa State (120 points), Towson (94 points), Pittsburgh (63 points), UC Davis (61 points), Central Michigan (36 points), George Washington (36 points), San Jose State (32 points), Ball State (31 points), Kent State (29 points), Temple (11 points), Western Michigan (9 points), Pennsylvania (8 points), New Hampshire (7 points), Illinois State (5 points), Sacramento State (4 points), Texas Woman’s (3 points), Air Force (1 points), Fisk (1 points)

The WCGA is the advocate for women’s collegiate gymnastics.

• ABC and ESPN to feature marquee women’s gymnastics meets throughout the season, including the third annual Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad
• Defending NCAA Champion Oklahoma Sooners lead a star-studded slate, appear eight times across ESPN linear networks
• SEC Network and ACC Network deliver extensive conference coverage
• Postseason coverage culminates with NCAA Women’s Regionals and Men’s Semifinals on ESPN+, Women’s Semifinals and the Men’s Championship on ESPN2, and the NCAA Women’s Championship live on ABC

ESPN networks will once again serve as the home of college gymnastics, delivering wall-to-wall coverage of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics season across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, SEC Network, ACC Network and ESPN+. Returning this year is semifinal and championship coverage of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championship. All meets will be available to stream on the ESPN App via ESPN DTC or Pay TV authentication, with hundreds more live on ESPN+.

Powerhouse programs, rising stars and electrifying routines flip into action in January with a pair of high-octane showcases courtesy of the third annual Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, live on ABC (4 p.m. ET) and ESPN2 (8 p.m.) from West Valley City, Utah. Fans can see top programs including defending national champion Oklahoma, UCLA, Utah, LSU, Michigan State, California, Kentucky and Michigan in action on January 10 as they launch into the 2026 campaign.

The defending NCAA Champion Oklahoma Sooners headline ESPN’s coverage with eight linear appearances throughout the regular season, including ABC, ESPN2 and SEC Network. Nine-time NCAA champion Utah hits the road for Ames, Iowa and the ESPN spotlight as they take on the Cyclones at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 25.

In addition to the second session of the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, ESPN2 welcomes seven more showdowns to the network, including:

• Alabama at Florida (Friday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m.)
• Kentucky at LSU (Friday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m.)
• Arkansas at Florida (Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.)
• Iowa State at Denver (Sunday, Feb. 1 at 5 p.m.
• Florida at Missouri (Friday, Feb. 6 at 9 p.m.)
• Oklahoma at Florida (Friday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m.)
• LSU at Oklahoma (Friday, Feb. 20 at 9 p.m.)

SEC Network
SEC Network remains the destination for Friday Night Heights, delivering dozens of dual meets throughout the season featuring perennial contenders like 2025 NCAA champion Oklahoma, 2025 SEC champion and 2024 NCAA champion LSU, multi-time NCAA and SEC champion Florida, plus a stacked conference rotation that regularly comprised the top 20 teams in 2025. Friday Night Heights doubleheaders flip into action on Friday, Jan. 16 with LSU at Georgia and Oklahoma at Missouri. Additionally, leading into the Georgia/Oklahoma meet on Friday, Jan. 23, SEC Network will air SEC Now: Oklahoma Gymnastics 2025 National Championship Celebration from 6:30-7 p.m.

ACC Network
ACC Network continues to grow its gymnastics coverage, spotlighting emerging programs such as Clemson, North Carolina, NC State and Pitt alongside perennial contenders California and Stanford. ACCN offers eight linear meets in 2026, showcasing the sport’s rapid rise across the league. Once again, ACCN will provide a platform for one of the final quad meets of the regular season, as Elevate the Stage returns with Clemson, Pitt, Georgia and Auburn on Sunday, March 8, from Huntsville, Ala.

Conference Championship Saturday
ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network and ESPN+ are teaming up to take on Championship Saturday with a full day of conference championship action slated for Saturday, March 21. The Big 12 Gymnastics Championship flies first with Session I on ESPN+ at 2 p.m. and Session II in primetime on ESPNU at 7 p.m. Both sessions of the ACC Championship are set exclusively for ACC Network. Session I and Session II are slated for 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. The SEC Gymnastics Championship will be telecast live, with the 2026 edition airing exclusively on SEC Network. Coverage of the afternoon session begins at 3 p.m. with the evening session tumbling along at 8 p.m.

Postseason Presentation
ESPN networks will once again blanket the postseason, starting with NCAA Women’s Regional action streaming live on ESPN+ from Wednesday, April 1 to Sunday, April 5. Championship weekend coverage includes both the Men’s and Women’s Semifinals, with men’s action on ESPN+ and women’s semifinal rounds on ESPN2.

ABC is the home of the 2026 NCAA National Collegiate Women’s Gymnastics Championships for the sixth consecutive season, with the Championship Final live on Saturday, April 18, at 4 p.m. Prior to Saturday’s championship, the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship Preview will be live on ABC at 3:30 p.m. For the second straight year, the NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championship (April 18) will air live on ESPN2 following ABC’s presentation of the NCAA Women’s ‘Four on the Floor.’

All of ESPN. All in One Place.
ESPN offers its full suite of networks and services directly to fans within the ESPN App. Designed to give fans more choice, flexibility and access to all of ESPN, the ESPN App provides a unique viewing experience that includes integrated game stats, multiview options, a synchronized two-screen feature, a vertical video feature called Verts and a personalized SportsCenter For You, as well as ESPN BET information, ESPN Fantasy sports, commerce, and more. These new features are available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices, whether they subscribe directly or through a traditional pay TV package. Bundling options available for fans include a limited time offer for the ESPN DTC Unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu for $29.99/month for the first 12 months. For more visit stream.espn.com.

Photo of Elle Mueller by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics magazine.

2026 COLLEGIATE GYMNASTICS TV SCHEDULE – ESPN NETWORKS

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Media Contact: Amanda Brooks, ESPN Communications – Amanda.D.Brooks@espn.com