2023 NCAA gymnastics championships: How to watch, what to look for as Oklahoma Sooners open title defense

The 2023 NCAA women’s gymnastics championships open Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas, with eight teams and 20 individual qualifiers prepared to face off at Dickies Arena, where the Oklahoma Sooners aim to defend their national title and to secure their sixth championship in the last decade.

The defending champs are favored to repeat, and they’ve proven their depth after winning their home regional last week with a 198.085 despite having to count a fall on beam in the finals. Oklahoma has registered nine perfect 10s this season by four different gymnasts on all four events, with three of those gymnasts posting multiple perfect scores: Ragan Smith (three on beam), Jordan Bowers (one on bars, one on floor) and Katherine LeVasseur (three on vault).

But becoming repeat national champions will be no easy feat for the Sooners, who first must face a semifinal matchup that includes the Jordan Chiles-led UCLA Bruins as well as the nine-time national champion Utah, which also boasts eight runner-up finishes in the NCAA tournament.

The big question hanging over the tournament is whether for the Florida Gators superstar Trinity Thomas will be able to compete. The 22-year-old Thomas, a fifth-year senior and reigning NCAA all-around champion, sustained a lower-leg injury during her floor routine at the regional semifinal, stopping mid-action. She’s been listed as day-to-day since. Florida advanced without Thomas, however, posting a 197.800 and finishing second to the Cal Bears, whom they’ll face again in the first semifinal. If she does appear in the lineup Thursday, she’ll have a chance to move closer to the all-time perfect 10s record. With 27 in her college career, Thomas need one more to tie with Kentucky’s Jenny Hansen (1993-96) and