This post was updated Feb. 20 at 12:13 a.m.

Championship pedigree ran deep in the Bruins’ 2024 league – otherwise known as the “Conference of Champions.”

And though the Big Ten is without its own prestigious moniker, the Bruins’ new conference opponents have enough of their own silverware.

Two national championship-winning teams – No. 2 UCLA gymnastics (8-2, 5-0 Big Ten) and No. 15 Michigan (8-2, 4-1) – will face off Sunday at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Wolverines were the Big Ten’s only national champions until the Bruins’ entrance into the conference in August.

The Bruins have been dominant on the road this season. Excluding its very first meet, UCLA averages a 197.683 figure in away meets opposed to the 197.392 it averages in Pauley Pavilion.

Gymnasts like senior Emily Lee have seen similar trends in their marks; Lee averages a 9.894 mark on beam on the road compared to a 9.833 in Westwood.

When it comes to performing at a high level, Lee said the environment does not matter.

“Our commitment is to not letting mistakes derail us from our goal,” Lee said. “The next person’s job is to stop the bleeding and forget that happened.”

UCLA’s gymnasts and coaches alike have mentioned the intensified travel schedule brought on by the transition from the more geographically narrow Pac-12 to the nationwide Big Ten, but scores indicate the Bruins’ ability to adapt.

UCLA is ranked No. 7 on vault, its lowest national ranking of any event. Despite the vault historically serving as the Bruins’ worst event, the squad put up five 10 start value routines against Penn State on Friday, exhibiting the team’s potential to score big on the apparatus.

“Vault was a huge win,” said coach Janelle McDonald. “The score didn’t quite reflect that, but I’m very excited about where the team is headed on that event.”

While graduate student Chae Campbell and junior Jordan Chiles have led on vault for the Bruins this season – boasting average scores of 9.868 and 9.875, respectively – three freshmen have entered the lineup.

Riley Jenkins has posted a 9.800 or higher on both of her vaults this season, Macy McGowan averages a 9.814 mark while owning a career-high 9.900 and Mika Webster-Longin earned her first event title against Penn State with her 9.850 career-high mark.

McGowan has become a regular in two other events as well, averaging even higher on bars and floor this season with 9.836 and 9.861, respectively. Despite being a newcomer, McGowan has performed on vault, bars and floor in every single meet this year.

Floor remains the Bruins’ most dominant event, topping the national rankings and only scoring below a 49.500 once in 2025. Graduate student Brooklyn Moors and Chiles have become accustomed to notching 9.950 marks, with the pair scoring below that mark just three times this season.

UCLA has entered the nation’s top five on bars, posting its season-high event total against Penn State on Saturday with a 49.575 mark. Graduate student Frida Esparza and Chiles are leading the charge, both earning a pair of 9.975 marks last weekend and being ranked in the Big Ten’s top five on the event.

“We are getting the numbers in, and we are building that confidence, so we will do the same thing no matter where we go,” Esparza said.