It was announced Tuesday that the presidents of chancellors of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) approved the future regular season and post-season championship formats for seven SEC sports, including gymnastics, in preparation for the addition of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC beginning with the 2024-2025 athletic year.
While Texas does not currently have a gymnastics team, the Oklahoma Sooners will officially join the conference on July 1, 2024, meaning next season will be the program’s last in the Big 12 Conference.
Here are the approved changes to the regular season and SEC Gymnastics Championships:
- Regular season: Each school sponsoring a gymnastics team will meet each other member institution at least once a year on an alternating home and away basis, consistent with the current process. An additional week will be required to accommodate nine teams.
- SEC Gymnastics Championships: The championship will move from a one-day event to a two-day format. The semifinals will consist of two sessions of four teams each. The top seed will receive a bye to the championship. The top seed plus the two session winners in the semifinals and the team with the next highest score in the semifinals will advance to a four-team championship.
As outlined above, there will be an additional week of conference meets to accommodate nine teams. Additionally, the SEC Gymnastics Championships will move from a one-day event to a two-day event, with the top SEC team at the end of the regular season receiving a bye to the championship round. The other eight teams will compete in two semifinal sessions, similar to the current one-day championship format that will run through next season. The two semifinal session winners and the next overall highest-scoring team in the semifinals will join the top seed in the four-time final.
The University of Oklahoma also has a men’s gymnastics team, but that program currently competes as part of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) since there are no other men’s gymnastics teams in the Big 12. The Sooners men’s team is expected to remain as part of the MPSF after the move.
