Michigan did more than win against Penn State Jan. 24 -- the Wolverines posted the highest men's score in the NCAA this season, even better than the 353.75 Illinois put up two weeks ago at the Windy City Invite. Signal: Michigan is an NCAA sleeper that could upset current favorites Stanford and Illinois.
All three teams will be in action this weekend. We'll see if Michigan can better the 355.65 it put up against Penn last Sunday. We'll find out if the impressive Illini can maintain the momentum they've already built under first year coach Justin Spring. Finally, we should have a better indicator as to whether talent-loaded Stanford can hang with the schools that have currently eclipsed it at the top of the rankings.
Here's what already happened this week in NCAA men's gymnastics:
Jan. 24:
Michigan vs. Penn State @ Michigan: Michigan 355.65, Penn State 344.75. Michigan junior Chris Cameron, the only guy from either team to compete in the all-around, posted an 88.75 and also won floor exercise (15.4) by a margin of five tenths. Thomas Kelley won rings (15.2) and high bar (14.7) for the Wolverines, while senior co-captain David Chan had the highest score on vault (15.8). Penn State freshman Felix Aronovich, currently no. 6 in the country on pommel horse, won his specialty (15.1), while teammate Philip Harris had the best score of the meet on parallel bars (14.7). (MGoBlue.com)
Here is what is about to happen:
Jan. 30:
Stanford vs. Cal @ Stanford (Stanford Open)
Minnesota vs. Nebraska, Air Force and Calgary @ Minnesota
Ohio State vs. Illinois @ Ohio State
Oklahoma vs. Texas @ Oklahoma -- cancelled due to inclement weather
Iowa vs. Michigan @ Iowa
Jan. 31:
Penn State vs. William & Mary @ Penn State
Temple vs. UIC and Brockport @ Temple
Springfield vs. Army and Navy @ Springfield
Can't miss meet of the week: Michigan vs. Iowa @ Iowa. It's less surprising that Stanford has fallen behind Illinois in the NCAA standings than it is that the Cardinal have now fallen behind Michigan as well. Or maybe not -- the Wolverines have quietly been putting up some very impressive numbers. Michigan should win easly over no. 9 Iowa, but fans should be watching this team to see how much better they can get.
Follow Gymnastics Examiner Blythe Lawrence on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GymExaminer.
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