Air Force Comes to McCasland Saturday Night

No. 1/1 Oklahoma vs. No. 8/9 Air Force

Feb. 25 | 6:50 p.m. CT | Norman, Okla. | McCasland Field House

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MATCHUP AT A GLANCE
	Sooners	Falcons
Ranking	No. 1	No. 9
Season High	433.200	409.150
3-Score Avg.	430.067	407.533
Floor Avg.	70.867	67.533
Pommel Horse Avg.	69.583	68.367
Rings Avg.	73.317	69.533
Vault Avg.	73.850	69.767
Parallel Bars Avg.	72.183	68.167
High Bar Avg.	71.700	67.267

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET FIVE

THE MEET

The No. 1-ranked Oklahoma men's gymnastics team returns to Norman and the McCasland Field House to host No. 9 Air Force Falcons in a meet slated for Saturday at 6:50 p.m. CT. For the first time this year competition will be in “five-up, five-count” format, meaning all individual scores will count toward the team score. Live scoring will be available at oustats.com and the meet will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Oklahoma with Chad McKee and former Sooner and three-time national champion on rings Michael Squires on the call. The meet will also serve as Military Appreciation Night for the Sooners. Current and former members of the armed forces can go to Soonersports.com/promocode and type in "MILITARY" to gets $4 tickets. There will also be a video tribute during the meet.

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.”

STREAKING

The Sooners have won or finished first in every meet they have competed in since placing second at the 2014 NCAA team finals. In that span they have racked up 59 victories, the most consecutive wins in program history and the most since piling up 52 wins from 2002 to 2004.

Senior Thao Hoang on rings in the Sooners' home-opening win over Michigan in January.

CODE BREAKERS

Even with scoring down under the new code of points, the Sooners are still racking up big numbers. Oklahoma is the only team this season to top the 425-point mark, having done so in each of its four meets this season, including twice scoring better than 430. Oklahoma's four team scores so far this year are the four highest marks by any team this season. With individual scores of 15 or better becoming scarce across the nation, the Sooners have put up 16 such marks in their four meets, including seven from sophomore and reigning NCAA all-around champion Yul Moldauer.

WINTER CUP SUCCESS

Oklahoma made serious waves at the 2017 Winter Cup last weekend. Moldauer won the all-around competition with a two-day score of 171.750 to become the first Sooner to win the event since two-time Olympian Jake Dalton did so in 2011. Senior co-captain Allan Bower placed third while junior Hunter Justus placed eighth to join Moldauer on the U.S. Senior National Team. Moldauer and Bower each make their second national team while Justus makes his first. In addition to the three current Sooners, four alumni, Chris Brooks, Dalton, Alex Naddour and Kanji Oyama, were also chosen for the national team.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma hits the road next week to take on No. 2 Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., in a 9 p.m. CT meet. The Sooners bested the second-ranked Cardinal three times a year ago. OU's last loss to Stanford came on the road in 2013.

OU'S TOP PAIR AT WINTER CUP

By virtue of their top-four performances, Moldauer and Bower earned international assignments from USA Gymnastics. Moldauer will compete at the American Cup on March 4 while Bower will compete at the World Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, on March 25. In addition to his all-around crown, Moldauer also won the event titles on rings (30.100) and parallel bars (29.300). He also placed second on floor (29.650) and vault (29.450). Bower placed in the top seven on every event and in the top five on four events. He put up his best marks on pommel horse (29.350, third) rings (28.900, fifth) and vault (28.900, fifth).

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).

Yul Moldauer (left) and Hunter Justus (right) celebrate during the Sooners' home opener against Michigan. Both Sooners, along with teammate Allan Bower, made the U.S. Senior National Team by virtue of their performances at the 2017 Winter Cup last weekend.

MOLDAUER SHINES

Moldauer has been perhaps the best gymnast in the nation this season. He has been named the NCAA Gymnast of the Week in three of the last four weeks, including after his win at Winter Cup. He currently ranks first in the nation in the all-around with a 3-score average of 87.617, first on floor (14.850), eighth on pommel horse (14.450), first on rings (15.100), tied fourth on vault (14.800), first on parallel bars (15.500) and tied ninth on high bar (14.383).

BOWER POWER

Senior co-captain Allan Bower opened his season with a bang at the Rocky 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. Despite dealing with a serious finger injury, Bower ranks third in the all-around (86.217), second on pommel horse (14.933), sixth on rings (14.750) and third on vault (14.867).

CHAMPIONS RETURN

The Sooners return a pair of individual national champions from 2016. 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. At the 2016 U.S. Championships Wenske tied Sooner great and two-time 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 currently leads the nation on vault with a 3-score average of 15.000. Wenske has missed the last two meets with a knee injury.

Air Force Comes to McCasland Saturday Night