OU Heads to Fort Worth for NCAA Championships

No. 1 Oklahoma at NCAA Championships (Semifinal II)

Teams (with NCAA seeds): No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Utah, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 California, No. 12 Nebraska

April 15 | 7 p.m. CT | Fort Worth, Texas | Fort Worth Convention Center

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NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET 15

THE BIG STAGE
When the Sooners take the competition floor this weekend at the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, they will begin their quest for the second national title in program history. The top-seeded Sooners will compete in Semifinal II at 7 p.m. CT on Friday against No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Utah, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 California and No. 12 Nebraska, with the top three teams advancing to the NCAA Super Six on Saturday night. Competing on the opposite side of the bracket for a shot at an NCAA title will be Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Minnesota and Stanford. The first semifinal will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday.

The Sooners will begin on the bye before floor exercise and rotate through the remaining events (floor exercise, vault, bye, uneven bars, balance beam). Oregon State all-around gymnast Madeline Gardiner will rotate with OU through all events.

Friday's semifinals will also serve as the all-around and individual event finals. The titles will be awarded to the competitors with the highest scores when the results from the two semifinals are combined.

QUEENS OF THE HILL
For the second consecutive season, Oklahoma is the nation's No. 1 overall seed in NCAA competition. OU holds an NCAA-best regional qualifying score (RQS) of 197.920, the best mark in program history. The Sooners, who were ranked first for at least two weeks on each event this season, began their 2016 campaign as the top team in the preseason rankings for the first time in OU history. After narrowly dropping its season opener, OU climbed back up the standings, claiming the No. 1 slot on Feb. 8, a position it has held since. This marked the fifth straight season that the Sooners have finished within the top two of the regular season national rankings based on RQS.

TOP REGIONAL TEAM
Oklahoma won the program's seventh consecutive NCAA Regional title on April 2 in Iowa City, Iowa, to advance to this weekend's competition in Fort Worth, Texas. The Sooners posted a 197.575, the nation's best score in regional competition, and captured individual titles on all four events. Chayse Capps (all-around - 39.550; vault - 9.9; beam - 9.9), Natalie Brown (beam - 9.9), AJ Jackson (floor - 9.9), Nicole Lehrmann (beam - 9.9) and McKenzie Wofford (bars - 9.95) all took home at least a share of event titles. Nebraska finished as the regional runner-up to join the Sooners in the championship field this weekend.

ON THE AIR
Both semifinals as well as Saturday's Super Six will air live on ESPNU and stream on WatchESPN. Through WatchESPN, fans can also access individual streams of each event. U.S. Olympic medalists Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke will provide analysis throughout the competition, and ESPN's Laura Rutledge will conduct interviews with coaches and gymnasts between apparatuses.

ROTATION ORDER
	VAULT	BYE	BARS	BEAM	BYE	FLOOR
1.	Utah	Alabama	UCLA	California	OKLAHOMA	Nebraska
2.	Nebraska	Utah	Alabama	UCLA	California	OKLAHOMA
3.	OKLAHOMA	Nebraska	Utah	Alabama	UCLA	California
4.	California	OKLAHOMA	Nebraska	Utah	Alabama	UCLA
5.	UCLA	California	OKLAHOMA	Nebraska	Utah	Alabama
6.	Alabama	UCLA	California	OKLAHOMA	Nebraska	Utah

SOONERS AGAINST THE FIELD
The Sooners have faced six teams in the 2016 NCAA Championship field, including LSU twice. OU holds a 6-1 mark against those teams, with the lone loss coming in its season opener at LSU. The Sooners also defeated California, Stanford, Georgia, UCLA and Nebraska throughout the course of the 2016 season.

ROAD WARRIORS
Oklahoma will look to continue its winning ways away from the Lloyd Noble Center this weekend. In their nine meets away from Norman this season, the Sooners have been consistent and successful, averaging an NCAA-best 197.542 on their way to a 21-1 record. At the Big 12 Championship on March 19, OU tallied an impressive 198.050, the highest away score in the nation this season and its second-best overall total. The Sooners have snagged 30 team event titles and 42 individual crowns in road and neutral site meets in 2016. OU's road success is nothing new as it finished with the highest road average in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons with marks of 197.679 and 197.531, respectively.

POSTSEASON PROWESS
Strength in the postseason has become a hallmark of Oklahoma's teams under head coach K.J. Kindler. Since 2010, OU owns six seasons in which it has captured a conference and regional championship in the same season. Oklahoma has achieved the feat in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2010. The Sooners have advanced to the NCAA Championships 16 times in program history and every season dating back to 2004. Oklahoma has never missed NCAA competition under Kindler's leadership.

IN GOOD COMPANY
Oklahoma is one of only five teams in the nation to advance to the NCAA Championships every season since 2004, joining Alabama, Florida, LSU and Utah.

MATCHUPS AT A GLANCE
	OU	Alabama	Utah	UCLA	California	Nebraska
Record	28-1-0	13-5-0	19-2-1	17-6-0	22-8-0	27-5-0
NCAA Seed	No. 1	No. 4	No. 5	No. 8	No. 9	No. 12
NQS	395.495	394.525	394.330	393.430	392.695	393.185
RQS	197.920	196.635	196.575	196.330	195.595	195.440
Average	197.588	197.042	196.970	196.782	196.230	196.205
High	198.075	197.750	197.675	197.475	197.500	197.350

QUICK HITS

• Oklahoma holds half of the top-10 team scores in the nation this season, including three of the top-five marks. OU boasts the second-, third- and fifth-best overall scores, with its 198.075 from Feb. 26 against then-No. 4 Michigan coming in as the second-highest total.
• The Sooners have cracked the top 10 in best scores in program history a total of 12 times this season (three times for team scores, four times on bars, once on beam, four times on floor). On bars, OU replaced half of its lineup from a year ago but has not missed a beat, setting the program record of 49.675 on the event against Arizona and at the Big 12 Championship.
• Oklahoma returns eight previous NCAA All-Americans who own 15 total accolades: Chayse Capps (VT, BB), Maile'ana Kanewa (VT, FX), Kara Lovan (FX), Haley Scaman (VT, FX), AJ Jackson (VT), Charity Jones (VT), Keeley Kmieciak (UB, BB) and McKenzie Wofford (UB).
• Seven Sooners (41 percent of OU's roster) hail from the state of Texas, including freshman Nicole Lehrmann, sophomores Natalie Brown and Samantha Craus, juniors Chayse Capps and McKenzie Wofford and seniors Hunter Price and Nicole Turner.

UP NEXT

If they finish within the top three of their semifinal, the Sooners will advance to Saturday's Super Six team finals. The meet is scheduled for an 8 p.m. CT and will be televised live on ESPNU and available online at WatchESPN.com.