In recent history, Oklahoma has been the powerhouse team of the NCAA, winning four of the past six team titles. Most notably, the Sooners win this past year showed the NCAA that they are THE team to beat in 2020. 

Watch 2020 California Grand Invitational & Collegiate Challenge LIVE!

Jan. 3-5 | 7PM ET

To open the new season and begin its title defense, Oklahoma will compete in the California Grand Invitational on Jan. 4, where it will face UCLA, Cal, and Stanford in the second of two college sessions.

Let’s talk the OU squad—it is important to note the Sooners lost four fantastic seniors from the 2019 team. Without Brenna Dowell, Nicole Lehrmann, Ashley Hiller and Alex Marks, the 2020 team will have many reliable routines to replace. Specifically, the loss of Dowell and Lehrmann present important positions to be filled as both continuously scored well on vault, bars and beam, as well as Dowell hugely on floor. On top of that, Marks brought a reliable bars score throughout her senior year that the Sooners will look to replace. 

Yet, this 2020 squad is more than capable of filling those spots. The Sooners’ five freshmen bring immense talent and experience to step up and help the team to another victorious year. Especially with a team led by three super seniors, Brehanna Showers, Jade Degouveia, and Maggie Nichols. We saw Nichols and Degouveia in action last season but lost Showers to an injury early on in the season, and Nichols missed most of last year as an all-arounder, competing just three times on floor in the regular season due to a torn plantar fascia. Now, with a healthy Showers, a healing Nichols, and a determined Degouveia, this Sooner squad is led by three powerful women seeking another title. 

Watch 2020 California Grand Invitational & Collegiate Challenge LIVE!

Jan. 3-5 | 7PM ET

Amazingly Nichols’ injury didn’t stop her from being crowned the NCAA all-around champion in 2019. She also contributed heavily on the other three events all season, notching season highs on vault, bars, and beam as a 10, 10 and 9.975 respectively. She will look to compete all-around her entire senior year to work toward another team and all-around title.

Highlighting the Sooners’ freshman class is Ragan Smith, a former elite from Texas Dreams training under Kim Zmeskal-Burdette and an alternate for the 2016 Olympic team. Smith can easily fill the all-around loss of Dowell with her power and precision on all four events. Along with Smith, Jenna Dunn comes onto the team as the reigning level 10 national beam champion and will be an excellent replacement for Lehrmann’s fantastic beam work. 

Following the Sooners intrasquad last week, head coach KJ Kindler mentioned how excited she is for this team with all of its depth and talent. Most notably, she praised the depth on the team for stepping up when sophomore Olivia Trautman sustained a minor ankle tweak in warmup. Kindler was impressed and excited for her team’s ability to handle adversity early on and fill Trautman’s important spots. 

Watch 2020 California Grand Invitational & Collegiate Challenge LIVE!

Jan. 3-5 | 7PM ET

The Sooners already showed exciting promise from their freshmen in filling roles on all four events and are excited to open their season at the Cali Grand invite. Not to mention, starting the season out on a podium meet allows for the team to immediately get used to the format of the national championship.

But who are the other teams competing? 

Three California teams — Cal, Stanford, and UCLA — make up the rest of this four-team lineup for the season opener. 

Cal is looking to start its year off strong after missing out on an opportunity to showcase its talent at the national championships last year. The most notable loss for the Bears happened early on in their season when fifth year senior Toni Ann Williams went down with an Achilles tear. Although saddened by the loss of their leader, the team rallied and finished the season strong with a hugely respectable 197.675 at the Athens regional. Although not the finish they hoped for, Cal proved to be consistent, finishing 10th in the nation last year. They have brought in four talented freshmen this season and return powerhouse Kyana George. Keep an eye out for a stellar opening meet for the Bears.

Stanford is also ready to compete as it comes into the 2020 season with the return of juniors Kyla Bryant and Rachel Flam. Bryant’s return is huge for the Cards as she came out victorious last season in the all-around against both UCLA and Cal. The Cards are counting on big scores from Bryant to keep them in the running for a win at this meet, as well as an opportunity to compete at the national championships in April. 

Watch 2020 California Grand Invitational & Collegiate Challenge LIVE!

Jan. 3-5 | 7PM ET

But without a doubt, the Sooners’ biggest competition in this meet will come from the UCLA Bruins. 

The Bruins are coming into the 2020 season with extra motivation following a third-place finish in 2019 and the conclusion of former head coach Valerie Kondos Field’s reign. Despite the departure of internet sensation Katelyn Ohashi, a solid beam and floor worker, and beam superstar Brielle Nguyen the Bruins definitely have the needed talent from their returners. Ohashi and Nguyen are big losses for the team, but combined they only brought three routines for the Bruins. Meaning, the Bruins are looking to fill only three routine spots from their lineups last year.

And filling those spots shouldn’t be an issue for the returners. Obviously, the return of now senior Kyla Ross is huge for the Bruins. Ross is unstoppable on all four events, proving her success with a perfect 10 on each apparatus last year. She also tied a school record of 19 All- America honors and is the NCAA record holder with 14 perfect 10s in 2019. Wow! 

Along with Ross, the Bruins return many big-name athletes like Felica Hano, Nia Dennis, Margzetta Frazier, Norah Flatley, Madison Kocian, and Gracie Kramer, who all together hold 17 All-America honors. Many of these athletes are capable of contributing on two or more events, leaving UCLA with its usual abundance of depth. 

The returners aren’t the only stars coming onto the scene this year. UCLA introduces an almost all new coaching staff with Kristina Comforte, Dom Palange, BJ Das, and the return of associate head coach Chris Waller, who is now at the helm. A new coaching staff and three new freshmen is sure to get fans hyped up for a new era of the UCLA Bruins. 

Watch 2020 California Grand Invitational & Collegiate Challenge LIVE!

Jan. 3-5 | 7PM ET

Although dominant last year, Oklahoma fell short of UCLA at the 2018 national championships, losing by a mere 0.038 points following a perfect 10 on beam by Peng Peng Lee. They certainly didn’t let that happen in 2019, though, finishing above UCLA by eight whole tenths. Is 2020 the year for the Bruins’ revenge?

This year, the tide turns as UCLA plays the revenge card and OU plays the “defend the title” card. 

The teams match up very equally with both rosters having immense talent from big names like Nichols and Ross. However, the Bruins outnumber the Sooners with a huge 22-athlete roster to the Sooners’ 16-person roster. That’s eight more bodies to contribute to the team’s depth in order to rest the big-name athletes and save them for the postseason. Which is not to say that OU lacks depth. Most of the fight between these two teams will come down to keeping their athletes healthy and emphasizing details, such as landings. 

It’s a fight between older and newer. The successful coaching staff at OU remains steady with Kindler continuing to lead the pack, whereas UCLA will go into its guinea pig year without Miss Val. Talent aside, these two teams will fight all year long for consistency and drive. And lucky for us, we could be seeing a first look at half of the teams competing for a national title on the last day of the season. So, buckle up as we have a wild ride for you to start 2020 off with a bang!