As the calendar hits April, the final chapter of the 2024 college gymnastics season begins with Regionals. 
The No. 2 LSU Tigers will be the top seed in Fayetteville’s Arkansas Regional. In the second round, they will compete with No. 15 Minnesota, Oregon State and the winner of Boise State-BYU.
The two highest scores from that group will compete with the top two from No. 7 Kentucky, No. 10 Arkansas, Arizona and Nebraska in the Arkansas Regional Final. The Regional Champion will punch their ticket to Fort Worth, Texas, for the Elite 8.
Here’s everything you need to know about all nine squads set to compete in the Arkansas Regional, including their National Qualifying Score (NQS):
No. 2 LSU (198.215 NQS)
Not much more needs to be said about the SEC Champion LSU Tigers.
What happened in last year’s tournament still hangs over LSU, with the worst injuries piling up at the worst possible time of the season. The Tigers have stayed healthy all season, yet last year’s narrative still hangs over their heads, and it will stay that way until this program breaks the bubble and captures its first National Championship in school history.
On paper, LSU should win the Arkansas Regional. The Tigers can compete with the best in the country when healthy, but will they stay that way?
LSU head coach Jay Clark hammered the importance of rest in last Monday’s press conference and LSU’s lack of it in last year’s tournament.
“I think the rested teams do better in April,” Clark said. “I think teams with fresh legs generally do better. If you looked at us last year with everything we went through and we got to the finals, you could tell by the time we got into the finals, we looked tired.”
It remains to be seen how Clark and the rest of the Tigers’ coaching staff will handle their gymnasts this year.
“We were at the end of the line; we were emptying the tank,” Clark said. “Fortunately, right now we’re not in that place at the moment, but we’re just gonna try and manage that.”
If LSU can manage all that, the Tigers should be the favorites to win the Arkansas Regional and punch their ticket to Fort Worth. 
No. 7 Kentucky (197.810 NQS)
Kentucky was so close to hoisting its first conference title in program history as each team rotated to their final event of the 2024 SEC Gymnastics Championship; the Wildcats just had to have a solid finish to the night on vault.
Whether the pressure got to Kentucky or not, the Wildcats only posted one score of 9.9 or higher, with their anchor, Makenzie Wilson, scoring a lackluster 9.775 in the big moment.
As the confetti began falling on LSU, reality started to set in for the Wildcats. Four decades of Kentucky gymnastics, and four decades without an SEC Championship.
Thankfully for the Wildcats, their season didn’t end in New Orleans. They were selected as the second-highest seed in the Arkansas regional, and for good reason.
Kentucky is as dangerous as anybody in this region. Raena Worley is looking to end her collegiate career on the highest of high notes. Wilson wants to return and prove herself following her disappointing SEC Championship performance.
The Wildcats are just hoping that their Hollywood story has another act left.
No. 10 Arkansas (197.446 NQS)
Arkansas is this region’s biggest wild card. 
This season has been the greatest in Razorback gymnastics history. Arkansas had six gymnasts awarded All-SEC honors, which ties a program record for the most in a single season.
But just how much noise can the Razorbacks make in this region? Ask their fans.
If Arkansas fans show up in full force at Bud Walton Arena, we could see a potential program record in attendance, creating a very Razorback-heavy atmosphere come tournament time.
Watch out for the hometown Razorbacks in this Arkansas Regional.
No. 15 Minnesota (197.310 NQS)
Minnesota consistently competed with the best the Big Ten has to offer throughout the 2024 campaign. The Golden Gophers finished fourth in the Big 10 with a 6-3 conference record. Minnesota finished the regular season 16-6 overall, with the most wins since 2019 and the second-most all-time under head coach Jenny Hansen.
The Golden Gophers surprised many and over-performed at the Big Ten Championship (197.500), finishing a tenth of a point behind first-place Michigan State (197.600).
If Minnesota is peaking at the right time, don’t be surprised to see it go toe-to-toe with top-ranked LSU.
Oregon State (197.085 NQS)
Oregon State last missed the postseason in 1975. The Beavers have made the postseason for 49 consecutive years, nearly half a century straight. 
At Oregon State, consistency is critical. The Beavers rank in the top 25 in every single event, headlined by their bar lineup, which is ranked No. 7 in the nation.
The craziest part about this already baffling Oregon State squad is their youth. The Beavers boast a young roster with only two seniors out of 18 total gymnasts. While their youth could be their detriment, the sky’s the limit for this Oregon State squad.
The Arkansas Regional will be an excellent opportunity for the Beavers to show the country what they’re made of. 
Arizona (196.885 NQS)
Like many programs across the country, Arizona is currently in a gymnastics renaissance in 2024. It’s a testament to how much this sport has grown in such a short amount of time. 
“It’s always a great day when Arizona earns an NCAA bid,” head coach John Court said. “This season has been record-breaking in many ways and it’s due to the commitment of the athletes, coaches, and staff. We all push each other to be better and we are excited to continue our season in Arkansas.”
The Wildcats don’t pop off the page when compared to their competition in the Arkansas Regional, but looking at the big picture, we should see how far this program has come instead.
2024 has been a record-setting season for Arizona. The Wildcats earned their seventh and ninth-highest scores in Arizona Gymnastics history, set two school record event scores, and rounded out the regular season with their highest NQS ever.
Watching these middle-of-the-pack programs continue to improve is only better for the future of college gymnastics. As the sport grows, the sometimes fairly sizable skill gap between teams diminishes as more and more programs begin to compete seriously at the national level.
No matter what happens in Fayetteville, the Wildcats have already had their most successful season in program history and will look to build upon that in 2025. 
Nebraska (196.735 NQS)
Nebraska has held solid throughout the 2024 campaign with a decent NQS score. 
Unfortunately for the Cornhuskers, once the calendar hits April, solid and pretty decent will no longer cut it. 
Nebraska finished the season at 6-7. Their 4-5 regular season conference record was good enough for sixth place, and they finished seventh at the Big 10 Championship.
The Cornhuskers are good and have a solid NQS on the season, but they’ve had problems beating the team across from them, and that’s what April is all about: surviving and advancing.
While Nebraska was good enough to make it to Regionals, it likely won’t be nearly enough to compete in Regionals.  
Boise State (196.715 NQS)
In the Mountain West’s first-ever conference championship, Boise State (196.550) edged out Utah State (196.500), San Jose State (196.400), and Air Force (195.450) to claim the program’s 18th conference title. It was well-deserved, as the Broncos felt like the best team in the Mountain West all season.
At the meet, Boise State brought home the hardware. Including the championship trophy, Broncos senior Emily Lopez was named Gymnast of the Year and Bars Specialist of the Year in the Mountain West, and her head coach, Tina Bird, was crowned the conference’s Coach of the Year.
“I’m so very proud of the team and their performance tonight. To win the first Mountain West Conference Championship is such a historic moment and they deserve it,” said Bird. “Emily Lopez is such a beautiful gymnast and is so deserving of her Gymnast of the Year honor.” 
That’s now 16 straight NCAA appearances for a school that has never been hailed for its gymnastics program.
Lopez is tied for 20th nationally in NQS (9.930) and has been the best player for Boise State and the Mountain West as a whole.
How long before other conferences close the gap between the elites of college gymnastics? The Broncos are the best candidate to become a trailblazer, a blueprint for other, smaller programs to build on. Boise State got here by building a consistent culture and foundation over time. 
This might be the year that the Broncos are ready to jump and think about seriously competing nationally.
BYU (196.665 NQS)
While BYU didn’t win their conference as Boise State did, the Cougars posted a season-high score of 197.050 to finish in third place in the program’s first-ever Big 12 Championship, which helped them get to their 11th-straight Regional.
BYU competed in a much more challenging conference with the likes of No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 8 Denver than the Broncos did, with the two now going head-to-head on Wednesday evening for the Arkansas Regional’s final play-in spot.
These programs have a history. In last year’s first round, Boise State took out the Cougars 196.700-196.125. While we’re getting the same matchup in the same situation, don’t expect the same result Wednesday evening. 
The Broncos may have the more impressive resume, but BYU has competed against competition miles ahead of Boise State all season. The Cougars know what the bright lights feel like.
Wednesday evening’s matchup is the Broncos to lose, and if BYU can embody the underdog mentality, we could see the Cougars move on to the second round.