The NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship is one of the most electrifying events in gymnastics and every year the drama leading up to the Super Six is almost as exciting.

Over the course of the 2013 season, a number of contenders have emerged and there are plenty of “locks” to make up the 12-team semi-finals field, but there’s also plenty of decent programs right on the bubble.

Let’s have some fun with early predictions of which teams will advance out of regionals and dance in the Finals tournament, and those that could be left out in the cold.

Every year it seems that one or two of the teams that were predicted to contend for the championship ends up falling out of the race, while another team surprisingly makes the cut. I think this year will be no exception.

So here it is, the GymShark’s early projections for the NCAA semi-final round of twelve, in the order of how they will qualify out of regionals:

 1. Florida
 2. Alabama
 3. UCLA
 4. Oklahoma
 5. Michigan
 6. LSU
 7. Stanford 
 8. Utah
 9. Oregon State
10. Auburn
11. Longshot Team – Arkansas
12. Nebraska or a Bubble Team

Bubble Teams – Denver, Minnesota, Arizona

Longshot Teams – Arkansas, Penn State

Does Not Qualify - Georgia
 
    


I know it may be considered blasphemy to list Oklahoma at number four in this list, but remember, this is just where I think they will place coming out of regionals and into Day 1 (Semi-Final) of the championship weekend, not the final standings.

Oklahoma is awesome, I’m definitely a fan of KJ’s, but Oklahoma is due for a mental letdown at some point. Under the pressure of regionals and in front of their home crowd, they may have a sub-par performance; that is, sub-par by their standards. They will still qualify, but I think the “scare” will be a wake-up call, and they will go into finals strong. That’s my 2-cents anyway!

Georgia is a good team with the potential to qualify for the Super Six, or fall flat on their face. I'm rolling the dice and predicting that it will not be a good day for the Gym Dogs. In the shocker of the season, they will not make it out of regionals. I hope I'm wrong because I'm a fan of Chelsea Davis, Noel, and Shayla.

LSU is a fine team and good things are in store for them, but at regionals, they will only do "ok", not great. They will qualify in the number six slot. Their moment in the sun will come during the finals weekend.

Florida is going to be great and flying high at regionals. They will seem unstoppable, qualifying in the number one slot.

Alabama will appear to be resurging with a strong appearance at regoinals in the number two slot.

Don't worry about UCLA, Miss Val and Chris Waller will have their team ready for regionals. Despite losing Sam and Peng-Peng, UCLA will do just fine, qualifying in the number three slot.
 

Arkansas will qualify in the eleventh slot. The Razorbacks have their problems and they're a longshot, but they are also capable of getting hot on a given night and scoring a high 196 or 197. They recently scored 197.10 vs. Alabama. If they crash and burn at regionals, it will probably be bars and beam that are their undoing.

I have Nebraska qualifying at slot twelve. They are a decent team, but I’m concerned that under the pressure at regionals, they will have one of their 195-ish road performances. Emily Wong is great, but the supporting cast has to put their vaults to their feet and can’t count 9.65 routines and expect to advance.

Of course all of these projections can change based on injuries and how teams are assigned to regionals.

Chime in and let us know who you think will advance out of regionals. Who do you think are the longshots and bubble teams?

Later, I’ll have more predictions and discussions of longshot teams, dark horses, and other juicy tidbits.