Can the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners claim their eighth NCAA Women's Gymnastics National Title?
FT. WORTH, Tex. - The top-ranked No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners women's gymnastics team is poised to chase its eighth NCAA national championship this weekend at the 2026 NCAA Championships, hosted at Dickies Arena.
Under the guidance of longtime head coach K.J. Kindler, the Sooners enter the postseason as heavy favorites, boasting an impressive 23-1-1 record and holding the No. 1 national ranking for 11 consecutive weeks during the regular season.
They will compete in Semifinal II on Thursday evening alongside No. 4 UCLA, No. 9 Arkansas, and No. 13 Minnesota, with the session tipping off at 8 p.m. CT (9 p.m. ET). The first semifinal session gets underway earlier at 3:30 p.m. CT (4:30 p.m. ET), featuring No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida, No. 6 Georgia, and No. 7 Stanford.
Both semifinal competitions will air live on ESPN2, with commentary from John Roethlisberger, Sam Peszek, Aly Raisman, and floor reporter Taylor Davis.
The top two teams from each semifinal will advance to the highly anticipated "Four on the Floor" national championship final, scheduled for 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET) on Saturday, April 18, and broadcast on ABC.
Oklahoma's postseason pedigree under Kindler is nothing short of legendary. Since 2010, the Sooners have captured both a conference championship (regular season or tournament) and a regional title in the same season on 14 occasions, including every year from 2012 to 2019 and again from 2022 through 2026.
The program has qualified for the NCAA Championships 25 times in its history, with an unbroken streak dating back to 2004. In fact, Oklahoma has never missed the national postseason during Kindler's 20-year tenure.
Since 2016, the Sooners have finished in the top two nationally in nine of 10 seasons and claimed national titles in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2025—positioning them for a potential eighth crown that would further cement their status as a modern dynasty.
This season's squad has delivered remarkable consistency. The Sooners have successfully hit 355 out of 360 routines, achieving an extraordinary hit percentage of .986. Six athletes remain perfect on the season, with two of them having competed in every single meet.
Oklahoma stands alone as the only team in the country to post a score of 49.600 or higher at least once on all four events which include the vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise.
Their season-high team score reached 198.425, and they posted a strong 198.350 in the regional final, marking the fourth-highest regional score in program history.
Senior standout Faith Torrez has been a pillar of reliability throughout her career. She boasts a 97 percent hit rate on beam (60-of-63 routines), with half of those performances scoring 9.95 or better.
Torrez owns three career perfect 10.0s on beam, including two this season at the SEC Championships and the NCAA Lexington Regional Final. In that regional final, Oklahoma recorded its highest beam score of the year at 49.750, also the program's sixth instance of a 49.700 or better on any event at regionals.
Torrez anchored the rotation with yet another flawless 10.0, her second of the season and second in regional competition.
Freshman Ella Murphy and sophomore Lily Pederson also shined, sharing the regional title on uneven bars with matching 9.95 scores.
Beyond team success, the semifinals will crown individual national champions based on the highest scores from both sessions in each event and the all-around. Oklahoma has produced 10 gymnasts who have combined for 22 individual NCAA titles, with 18 of those coming since 2014.
The Sooners have featured at least one individual champion in four of the last five seasons. In 2025, Jordan Bowers took the all-around title, while Audrey Davis and Faith Torrez shared beam honors, with Davis also winning uneven bars. Torrez claimed beam in 2024, Olivia Trautman won vault in 2023, and Anastasia Webb swept vault, floor, and all-around in 2021.
Since Taylor Spears' breakthrough in 2014, Oklahoma has secured an individual crown in eight of the past 12 seasons.
Six members of the current roster earned regular-season All-America honors from the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association, totaling eight recognitions. Senior Faith Torrez and freshman Ella Murphy earned first-team honors on beam.
Sophomore Addison Fatta secured first-team all-around and vault, while freshman Mackenzie Estep notched first-team vault and second-team floor. Sophomore Elle Mueller and junior Keira Wells also received vault honors (second and first team, respectively).
The Sooners have proven themselves as formidable road warriors. Over the last decade, they own a stellar 269-16-1 record away from the Lloyd Noble Center, translating to a .942 winning percentage. This includes a 67-6 mark (.918) at true away venues and 203-10-1 (.951) at neutral sites. In 2026 alone, Oklahoma sits at 24-1-1 when competing outside Norman.
Familiarity could play a role in Semifinal II. The Sooners opened the season against UCLA and faced Arkansas four times this year. Overall, Oklahoma holds a 5-0 record against its semifinal opponents and will meet Minnesota for the first time in 2026. Against the other bracket, they are 5-1-1, having battled Florida, Georgia, and LSU during SEC competition.
Oklahoma's assistant coaches Lou Ball, Tom Haley, and Ashey Kerr, were recognized as the WCGA Regional Assistant Coaches of the Year. The trio helped guide the team to the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, a 23-1-1 regular-season mark, the SEC Regular Season Championship, and a 16th consecutive regional title.
They coached three athletes to SEC individual crowns, secured 69 individual event titles, produced four perfect 10s, and helped 18 gymnasts earn All-SEC honors alongside the eight All-America selections.
As the Sooners make the relatively short trip down I-35 to Fort Worth, the path to another national title remains challenging yet within reach. With depth, consistency, and championship experience on their side, Oklahoma looks to cap another dominant season on the biggest stage.
The top two teams from each semifinal will battle it out for the 2026 NCAA Championship crown on Saturday, April 18, in what promises to be an unforgettable night of elite gymnastics at Dickies Arena.