NCAAMGym Week 5 Power Rankings

With the large variation in scores across regions, these rankings aim to provide a fluid assessment of rank based on performance and current momentum. The + or - next to a team's name represents how much they moved up (+) or down (-) since last week's power rankings.

1. Oklahoma Sooners (-)

It wasn't a great week by Oklahoma standards, but still the Sooners sit comfortably at the top. The room for growth with this team is on FX & PH. OU has been known as a typically dominant team on FX but hasn't completely shown it yet -- much because of injuries.

Current Sooner athletes competing at Winter Cup: Peter Daggett, Hunter Justus, Allan Bower, Matt Wenske, Yul Moldauer, Colin Van Wicklen and Levi Anderson

Next competition: Home vs. Air Force on Feb. 25th

2. Stanford Cardinal (-)

Stanford competed like Stanford this weekend and took care of business; not much else needs to be said. Their third-straight 420+ should have head coach Thom Glielmi pleased heading into the second half of the 2017 campaign.

Current Cardinal athletes competing at Winter Cup: Bailey Perez, Akash Modi, Robert Neff, Connor Lewis and Grant Breckenridge

Next competition: Home (International Challenge) vs. Minnesota on Feb. 25th

3. Ohio State Buckeyes (-)

The Buckeyes were challenged this weekend at Penn State but came away with a close victory. One thing it proved is that OSU can step up in a close meet with the pressure on. The Buckeyes registered three scores of 14.3+ on their final event, PB.

Current Buckeye athletes competing at Winter Cup: Seth Delbridge, Tristan Burke, Alec Yoder and Sean Melton

Next competition: Home (Arnold Challenge) vs. Minnesota on March 4th

4. Illinois Fighting Illini (-)

Illinois did not compete this weekend and did not move in the rankings.

Current Illini athletes competing at Winter Cup: Alex Diab, Johnny Jacobson, Brandon Ngai and Joey Peters

Next competition: Home vs. Iowa on Feb. 25th

5. Minnesota Golden Gophers (-)

Something about competing against Oklahoma makes teams step up, the Gophers were no exception. Their place in the top-six seems secure -- especially with the ability of their vault team (2nd - NCAA) to save them in any given meet.

Current Golden Gopher athletes competing at Winter Cup: Jalon Stephens and Tristan Duran

Next competition: @Stanford (International Challenge) on Feb. 25th

6. Penn State Nittany Lions (+1)

After a bit of a lull for two-straight weekends, the Nittany Lions seem to have hit their stride taking OSU down to the wire at home. They couldn't pull out a win but continued to show prowess on PH (2nd - NCAA), an event that will be crucial in championship meets.

Current Nittany Lion athletes competing at Winter Cup: Dominic DiFulvio, Michael Burns, Leroy Clarke Jr. and Favian Valdez

7. Nebraska Cornhuskers (-1)

Nebraska showed this weekend that they can keep pace with any team on FX & VT, but it's the other four events that will matter most. The biggest issue, which HC Chuck Chmelka knew going into the season, is still HB where the Huskers rank 11th in the NCAA.

Current Husker athletes competing at Winter Cup: Chris Stephenson and Evan Hymanson

Next competition: @UIC on Feb. 26th

8. Air Force Falcons (-)

Air Force remains in the top-eight but teams behind them are beginning to knock. They're continuing to improve on FX & VT but could use some more consistency on PB & HB. As long as Tim Wang continues to do his thing this team will contend for an NCAA team finals spot.

Current Falcon athlete competing at Winter Cup: Tim Wang

Next competition: @Oklahoma on Feb. 25th

9. Iowa Hawkeyes (+4)

By far the biggest riser this week were the Hawkeyes. They showed some life on their achilles heel, PH, and really seemed energized by the opportunity to compete at home against two top-five teams. How Iowa follows up this meet at their next competition will tell a lot about this team.

Current Hawkeye athletes competing at Winter Cup: Andrew Herrador, Andrew Botto and Nicholas Merryman

Next competition: @Illinois on Feb. 25th

10. Michigan Wolverines (-1)

Michigan did not compete this weekend but moved down one spot.

Current Wolverine athletes competing at Winter Cup: Mitchell Brown, Emyre Cole, Anthony McCallum and Dmitri Belanovski

Next competition: Home vs. California on Feb. 25th

11. California golden Bears (+1)

Three event scores of 70+ (FX, VT, HB) help the Golden Bears move up in this week's rankings. Their issues on PH will linger but HB (4th - NCAA) is a big event for Cal where they possess the ability to make up a lot of ground.

Next competition: @Michigan on Feb. 25th

12. Army Black Knights (-1)

Army did not compete this weekend but moved down one spot.

Current Black Knight athlete competing at Winter Cup: Nathan Goff

Next competition: Home vs. William & Mary and Springfield on Feb. 25th

13. Navy Midshipmen (-3)

It was another step back in score this weekend for Navy. It's possible that youth is playing a role in the production drop. The break couldn't come at a better time for the Mids as key AA'ers like Tanner West and Noah Beeman can get some rest.

Current Midshipmen athlete competing at Winter Cup: Jonny Tang

Next competition: Home vs. Penn State on Feb. 25th

14. William & Mary Tribe (+1)

The most encouraging sign for the Tribe from this past weekend was the second-straight solid performance on FX. Now all that's left is figuring out HB and this team should be in good shape.

Next competition: @Army vs. Army and Springfield on Feb. 25th

15. Arizona State Sun Devils (-1)

The lone bright spots for the Sun Devils this past weekend were FX & VT as both scored 70+. They failed to score a 63 on any other event. This marked the first time all year that Arizona St. scored below 63 on an event.

Next competition: Home (Sun Devil Classic) vs. Washington and SC United on Feb. 25th

16. Springfield Pride (-)

Springfield did not compete this weekend and didn't move in the rankings.

Next competition: @Army vs. Army and William & Mary on Feb. 25th

17. UIC Flames (-)

It was talked about in the week five recap, but the Flames could have left Saturday's meet feeling much better if it hadn't been for PH. That event should be the point of extreme emphasis for this team as they head into the break.

Next competition: Home vs. Nebraska on Feb. 26th

18. Washington Huskies (-)

Washington did not compete this weekend and didn't move in the rankings.

Current Huskie athlete competing at Winter Cup: Nathan Tsuji

Next competition: @Temple vs. Temple and NY Alliance on Feb. 18th

19. Temple Owls (-)

Temple did not compete this weekend and didn't move in the rankings.

Next competition: Home vs. Washington and NY Alliance on Feb. 18th

20. SC United (-)

SC United did not compete this weekend and didn't move in the rankings.

Next competition: @Arizona State (Sun Devil Classic) vs. Arizona State and Washington on Feb. 25th