Sooners Ready for Michigan at McCasland

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Michigan

Jan. 28 | 6:50 p.m. CT | Norman, Okla. | McCasland Field House

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MATCHUP AT A GLANCE
	Oklahoma	Michigan
Ranking	No. 1	No. 8
Season High	433.200	410.600
Team Avg.	429.900	398.600
Floor Avg.	70.925	70.500
Pommel Horse Avg.	69.800	64.650
Rings Avg.	73.550	66.100
Vault Avg.	72.900	69.850
Parallel Bars Avg.	71.675	61.700
High Bar Avg.	71.050	65.300

NOTES AND NUMBERS

THE MEET

The No. 1-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team opens its home schedule Saturday as it hosts No. 8 Michigan for a 6:50 p.m. CT meet. The meet will be broadcast on FOX Sports Southwest and FOX College Sports Pacific with Chad McKee and 2016 Olympian and Sooner legend Jake Dalton on the call.

SCORING CHANGE

A big storyline in 2017 will be changes made to the code of points used to score routines.

“The code of points has changed so there are only four special requirements on each apparatus instead of five,” Williams said. “Each special requirement is half a point. Basically they have combined some element groups and reduced the overall requirement. Typically we have said that a really good score is a 14.500 to a 15.000. We're going to see that same routine score between a 14.000 and a 14.500. A lot of good gymnasts are going to be doing routines that are in the high 13s. The team score is going to be affected and each individual score is going to be about a half a point lower.”

LET IT R3IGN

Oklahoma is chasing a third consecutive national championship in 2017 after completing back-to-back undefeated title runs in 2015 and 2016. The Sooners have repeated as national champions three times under Williams but have never won three in a row. The last program to accomplish that feat was Nebraska, which won five straight from 1979 to 1983. Williams was part of those Cornhusker teams as student-athlete and then as a graduate assistant. Three or more consecutive titles has only happened two other times in NCAA history (Penn State, 1959-1961; Illinois, 1939-1942).

CLEVELAND NIGHT

Saturday night is “Cleveland Night” for the Sooners. As part of their “Partners in Education” program OU gymnasts visit the classrooms of Norman's Cleveland Elementary School once a week to help tutor students in math, science and reading. In return students have the opportunity to participate in Cleveland Night. Dozens of lucky students will serve as junior judges, score flashers, march-in leaders, junior PA announcers and award presenters at the meet, which is typically OU's most well attended of the year.

RIGHT BACK AT IT

The Sooners have picked up right where they left off in 2016 so far this season. Oklahoma boasts the highest average team score in the nation by more than eight points and ranks first on every event but floor, where it ranks second. Individually Sooners rank first on rings (Allan Bower), vault (Tanner Justus), parallel bars (Yul Moldauer) and high bar (Colin Van Wicklen).

UP NEXT

OU is off next weekend but will make yet another road trip the following week as it heads north to Iowa City, Iowa to take on the 11th-ranked Hawkeyes and the seventh-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. CT.

STREAKING

The Sooners have won or finished first in every meet they have competed in since finishing second at the 2014 NCAA team finals. In that span they have racked up 55 victories, the most consecutive wins in program history and the most since piling up 52 wins from 2002 to 2004.

BOWER POWER

Senior co-captain Allan Bower opened his season with a bang at the Rockey Mountain Open. The Chandler, Ariz., native posted a nation-leading all-around mark of 88.750 at the Rocky Mountain Open and was named the NCAA and MPSF Gymnast of the Week for his efforts. Bower scored 15.000 or better on three events and won the event title on two. There were only nine total scores of 15.000 or better in all of collegiate gymnastics last weekend.

TRADITIONAL START

The Sooners had perhaps their best season-opener ever under Williams at the Rocky Mountain Open. Oklahoma's team total of 433.200 was more than 15 points higher than the next best score in the country over the weekend, and it scored the highest team event total on every event except high bar (second). Of the nine individual scores of 15.000 or better in collegiate gymnastics last weekend, Sooners accounted for six of them.

CHAMPIONS RETURN

The Sooners return a pair of individual national champions from 2016. Sophomore Yul Moldauer made history a year ago when he became just the second freshman ever (Sam Mikulak, Michigan) to win the all-around title. Moldauer is also a favorite to contend for the national title on parallel bars this year. Senior co-captain Colin Van Wicklen won the national title on floor last year. Van Wicklen, a seven-time All-American, is a serious title contender on floor and vault in 2017.

PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE

In addition to its two national champions, Williams' squad returns five All-Americans from last year's title team. Sophomore Levi Anderson (HB), senior Allan Bower (PH, PB, AA), junior Hunter Justus (SR), sophomore Yul Moldauer (FX, PB, AA) and senior Colin Van Wicklen (FX, VT, HB) all earned All-America status a year ago. The Sooners also return redshirt senior Josh Yee, who was an All-American in 2015, and senior Todd Dowdy, also a 2015 All-American.

IMPACT FRESHMEN

OU welcomes a pair of talented freshmen for 2017 in Matt Wenske and Tanner Justus. Wenske boasts a decorated junior career that includes a first place finish in his age group in the all-around competition at the 2015 Men's Junior Olympic National Championships. At the 2016 U.S. Championships he tied Sooner great and 2016 summer Olympian Jake Dalton for the event title on vault as a senior in high school. Justus finished first in his age group on vault at the 2013 and 2014 Men's Junior Olympic National Championships. He also took first on vault at the 2015 P&G Championships and finished tied for third with Wenske in the all-around competition.

Last week the duo tied for the event title on vault against Nebraska. They posted matching 15.050s and now share the lead nationally on the event.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

The Wolverines are currently ranked eighth in the coaches poll but sit in 10th place in the standings with a team score average of 398.100. MU opened its season two weeks ago with a third-place finish at the Windy City Open in Chicago. The Wolverines scored 398.100 to place behind first-place Illinois and second-place Ohio State. Michigan was off last week.

Sooners Ready for Michigan at McCasland