No. 2 UCLA gymnastics will head to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to compete against No. 15 Michigan on Sunday – the only two programs in the Big Ten to clinch a national title. Assistant Sports editor Aaron Doyle breaks down both squads ahead of one of the most anticipated conference matchups of the season.

UCLA
Ranking: No. 2
Strength: Floor
Weakness: Bars
X-Factor: Jordan Chiles

UCLA now boasts its highest national ranking since 2019 – less than one year after it found team glory at the NCAA championships. The Bruins jumped up three spots in the rankings from last week thanks to the switch from using averages to national qualifying scores to rank teams.

An NQS only takes into account a team’s top six scores, meaning UCLA’s season-opening 195.250 was dropped from the calculation and the squad surged ahead of reigning national champions No. 3 LSU and No. 4 Utah.

That boost can be credited to UCLA’s 197.675 total against Penn State last week – the Bruins’ highest score at home this year. The team got the job done on floor as per usual, posting a 49.550 total to maintain its No. 1 national ranking on the event.

Junior Jordan Chiles took over the reins from graduate student Brooklyn Moors to take the top spot in the national floor rankings, boasting a 9.955 NQS. Moors, who hasn’t dipped below a 9.900 on floor this year, sits tied at No. 2 in the country, while senior Emma Malabuyo and graduate student Chae Campbell lie in the nation’s top 25.

Vault – historically the Bruins’ weakest event – has been trending upward since the beginning of the season. UCLA posted five 10 start value vaults last weekend against Penn State with a lineup that included three freshmen.

Macy McGowan anchors the lineup and powered through a Yurchenko 1.5 while keeping her legs and feet glued together. Mika Webster-Longin and Riley Jenkins are relatively new members of the lineup but both successfully landed their vaults last weekend, with the former taking home the event title against the Nittany Lions.

UCLA arguably has the least amount of lineup depth on bars despite owning the No. 5 squad in the country. The Bruins’ ranking on the event benefited from the implementation of the NQS system, as the squad is the only program ranked in the top 10 to average below a 49.200 on the event.

But the Bruins aren’t a top-five bars group without reason. Graduate student Frida Esparza is the No. 3 ranked bar swinger in the country, and Chiles has already notched perfection on bars once this season.

The tandem earned a pair of near-perfect 9.975 scores last weekend, which marked a career high for Esparza. Receiving a perfect 10 from a judge means they are capable of perfection on the event – and this weekend could be Esparza’s turn.

Michigan
Ranking: No. 15
Strength: Beam
Weakness: Vault
X-Factor: Carly Bauman

Michigan won a national championship less than four years ago, but this year’s squad represents an entirely new era for the Wolverines.

The graduation of Sierra Brooks and Gabby Wilson left significant voids on all four events, especially on vault. But coach Bev Plocki – who has led the Wolverines to 26 Big Ten championships in her 36 seasons – brought in a new secret weapon ahead of the 2025 season.

Freshman Sophia Diaz graduated high school a year early to join Michigan’s squad this season, and her entrance is paying its dividends. Diaz immediately slotted herself into the vault, bars and floor lineup and owns a 9.900 career high on all three events.

Diaz is most helpful on vault – the Wolverines’ lowest ranked event at 18th place. Michigan typically puts up three 10 start values on vault, two of them coming from freshmen. Graduate student Jenna Mulligan is the only upperclassman to compete a Yurchenko 1.5, leaving work to do for the team’s youngsters once she graduates.

Freshman Jahzara Ranger is the only Wolverine who has competed in the all-around this year, showcasing all four events in the first five meets of the season. She peaked at a 39.325 on Jan. 11 against Michigan State – the third highest total from a Big Ten freshman this year.

Michigan is strongest on beam of all events, featuring the nation’s No. 7 beam team. Graduate student Carly Bauman was rock solid on beam all season long but fell during her last routines against both Kent State and Rutgers.

Bauman’s experience as one of the team’s three members of the national title-winning squad in 2021 could be enough to put the fall behind her, but the event she is most known for is bars. Bauman won the event at the Big Ten championships in 2023 and has scored her career-high 9.950 seven times.

Michigan is also led by Bauman on floor. The West Des Moines, Iowa, local is the only Wolverine to score more than a 9.900 on the event this season and is ranked in the nation’s top 20.

With both newcomers and veterans occupying most of Michigan’s lineups, the variety of experience could play to its advantage come Sunday.