OU Opens Season With Top-10 Battle Against Alabama

³Oklahoma

⁶ Alabama

Sunday, Jan.9 / 1:45 p.m. CT / Norman, Okla. / Lloyd Noble Center

ESPN / Live Stats / Meet Notes / Tickets

NORMAN – The Oklahoma women's gymnastics team is set to kick off the 2022 season at home against No. 6 Alabama on Sunday. The meet will air on ESPN at 1:45 p.m. CT. The is just the second time since 2017 that the Sooners will open their season at home in Lloyd Noble Center. OU opened the 2021 season at home against Arizona State, defeating the Sun Devils 197.450-194.725.

A trio of former Olympians will be on the call for ESPN with OU great Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson-Clarke alongside Samantha Peszek.

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET ONE

LET'S GET IT STARTED
The new squad features 14 returners and six newcomers who are all anxiously awaiting the start of a new season. Under head coach K.J. Kindler, OU is 14-3 all-time in its season opener. The Sooners have not lost a season opener since 2016.

HOME SWEET HOME
OU is to 120-4 inside Lloyd Noble Center since the arrival of head coach K.J. Kindler in 2007. The Sooners have posted 59 consecutive victories dating back to 2014 and the 2022 senior class has never lost a home meet in their career.

The Sooners will be home for five meets in 2022, with three airing on the ESPN family of networks. After the season opener against Alabama, OU will host defending Big 12 Champion Denver on January 30 on ESPN. Senior Night on March 4 against Michigan will air on ESPN2. OU will also host TWU (Feb. 4) and George Washington (Feb. 11) inside the LNC.

CRIMSON CLASH
The Sooners and Crimson Tide have faced off every year since K.J. Kindler's arrival in 2007. Under Kindler, the Sooners are 20-10 all-time against Alabama and have won 16 straight meetings dating back to the 2013 Super Six. In 2021, the teams met in the postseason twice with Alabama hosting regionals and advancing to the semifinals along with the Sooners. Alabama had won every regional they had hosted in program history but the Sooners ended that reign with a victory in the 2021 Tuscaloosa Regional.

PRESEASON NO. 3
The Sooners checked in at No. 3 in the WCGA Preseason Coaches' Poll. This is the 12th straight season in which the Sooners have been ranked in the top five nationally to begin the year and the eighth consecutive time being ranked in the top three. OU was slated as the No. 1 team in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020, No. 2 in 2015, 2019 and 2021, No. 3 in 2014 and No. 4 in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Oklahoma has now opened 17 consecutive seasons ranked in the top 10 nationally and the last 20 years in the top 25. Since head coach K.J. Kindler's arrival in 2007, the Sooners have been ranked in the preseason top 10 every year.

Overall 10 of OU's regular season opponents are ranked in the poll, including three squads in the top 5 and five in the top 10 and seven in the top 25. The Sooners will host three top 10 teams at Lloyd Noble Center with No. 1 Michigan, No. 6 Alabama and No. 10 Denver making the trek to Norman.

KINDLER VS. THE SEC
Head coach K.J. Kindler has proven the Sooners are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to battling their foes in the SEC. Soon, these teams will be yearly competition as Oklahoma is set to join the SEC for the 2025-26 competition seasons. OU will face just two SEC teams in the regular season in Alabama and Florida (Feb. 25). In 16 seasons, Kindler is 56-8 against the SEC and has not lost to an SEC foe since 2018 when the Sooners visited Florida.

A LEAGUE OF HER OWN
Head coach K.J. Kindler is still in a league of her own in 2022 as the only coach in NCAA history to take two different programs to the NCAA Finals. In 2006, Kindler's Iowa State advanced to the Super Six. Kindler has guided 10 OU teams to the NCAA Finals in her 16 years as head coach.

Until last season, Kindler was also the only active head coach to have won a national championship. Michigan's Bev Plocki won her first with the Wolverines in 2021 and the two are the only active coaches with a title.

BACK FOR MORE
Seniors Carly Woodard and Karrie Thomas decided in the offseason to return for a fifth and final year at Oklahoma. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, athletes were granted an extra year of eligibility. Thomas and Woodard both took the opportunity and their routines will bolster the OU lineups.

Woodard will compete for the Sooners for an unprecedented fifth season, while Thomas will compete for a fourth season after transferring from Maryland. Woodard is an All-American on beam and was the 2019 Athens Regional Beam Champion. Thomas is an All-American on bars and was the 2021 Big 12 Event Specialist of the Year.

WHAT'S TO COME
The most anticipated matchup of the 2022 season will take place inside Lloyd Noble Center when the 2021 NCAA Champion Michigan Wolverines come to Norman. In a rematch of the 2021 NCAA Championships, the Sooners and Wolverines will face off on Friday, March 4. The Sooners will have other exciting matchups in the LNC, including the season opener on Sunday, Jan. 9, as they welcome Alabama to Norman. The Sooners and Crimson Tide faced off twice in 2021 with OU defeating Alabama at the Tuscaloosa Regional and handing the Tide their first home regional loss in program history.

In a rematch of the 2021 Big 12 Championship, defending champion Denver will return to the LNC on Sunday, Jan. 30. Other home meets include a Feb. 4 matchup with Texas Woman's University and a Feb. 11 meet against George Washington.

The Sooners will face a series of tough opponents on the road in 2022. Up first is a pair of Pac-12 battles with the Sooners traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah and Tucson, Ariz. OU and Utah will go head-to-head inside the Huntsman Center for the first time since 1992 on Friday, Jan. 14. The following week, the Sooners will head to Arizona for a tri-meet with the Wildcats and Stanford.

OU will look to defend its title at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 19. The Sooners will face a strong field that includes Denver, Stanford and Washington and get their first chance to compete on podium before nationals. For the first time since 2018, the Sooners will make the journey to Gainesville, Fla., on Feb. 25 to face the Florida Ga

QUICK HITS

OU was ranked No. 3 in the WCGA preseason coaches poll, the seventh-straight season the Sooners have been ranked in the top three to begin the year.
10 of OU's regular season opponents are ranked in the poll, including three squads in the top 5 and five in the top 10 and seven in the top 25.
Oklahoma's roster this season features 14 returning gymnasts from the 2021 squad including four who combined for nine All-America honors in seniors Olivia Trautman and Allie Stern, junior Ragan Smith and sophomore Audrey Davis.
The Sooners will be featured on ESPN networks five times during the regular season: vs. Alabama (Jan. 9), at Utah (Jan. 14), vs. Denver (Jan. 30), vs. Michgan (March 4), at Big 12 Championship (March 19).

SCOUTING ALABAMA

The defending SEC Champions enter the 2022 season ranked No. 6 after finishing in fifth place at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Alabama returns 22 of its 24 routines from 2021, including the entire vault and uneven bars lineups. The Crimson Tide boast a pair of individual champions from 2021 in Luisa Blanco (balance beam) and Lexi Graber (floor exercise). The 2022 lineup includes four All-Americans who combined for 15 honors in Blanco, Graber, Makarri Doggette and Shallon Olsen. Dana Duckworth is in her eighth season as head coach and 27th with the Tide, including four years as a gymnast, nine as a volunteer coach and six as an assistant coach. Alabama is one of just seven teams to win an NCAA Championship, winning in 2012, 2011, 2002, 1996, 1991 and 1988.

TICKETS

Season tickets for the 2022 season are currently available for purchase. Tickets are available for $40 for general admission and $60 for reserved seating, which will reserve a seat location for the entire season. Youth (6-18) and senior (55+) season tickets will be $30. Discounted tickets are available for $5 for groups of 10 or more. Group tickets must be purchased at least 24 hours prior to the event. Fans can order online through SoonerSports.com or over the phone at (405) 325-2424 or toll-free at 800-456-GoOU.

MEET DAY POLICIES

Appropriate cloth or surgical-style masks that cover the nose and mouth are highly encouraged. OU will continue its clear-bag policy this season. The approved clear plastic tote size is a maximum of 12 inches x 6 inches x 12 inches or a one-gallon clear plastic freezer bag. Even those bags are subject to search.

Arena doors will open to the public one (1) hour prior to tip off. The general public can utilize the north and east entrances. Full details on OU's game day policies at Lloyd Noble Center can be found here.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will hit the road to Salt Lake City for yet another top-10 matchup at No. 4 Utah. OU and Utah will compete on Friday, Jan. 14 at 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.