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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah gymnastics is a dynasty, and no one can argue that.
In its 41 years of existence, the team has qualified for 40 straight national championships and won 10 national titles. The Red Rocks barely came short of another title last year, losing by five-hundredths of a point to Florida.
The only team to qualify for every national championship since 1976 is also 1 of 3 schools to make the Super Six at least 19 times and has more All-Americans (347) than any other gymnastics program.
Utah will continue its quest for success this season, hoping to keep up with the absence of former head coach Greg Marsden, who retired after 40 seasons, with a new head coaching duo in Megan Marsden and Tom Farden. But before the 2016 national championship enters the gymnasts' minds, the reigning Pac-12 champions must keep up their conference reputation.
Utah has won two back-to-back conference championships. In 2014, its first-ever Pac-12 title came with the seventh-best score in school history (197.925), beating runner-up Stanford by almost one point.
Last season brought another ode to conference bragging rights. The Utes again won the Pac-12 Championship with a 198.150 score. It happened in front of the largest audience — a combined sessions attendance of 23,568 — in the conference championship history.
In both years, the Red Rocks, who finished conference at 12-1, finished the regular season ranked first in the league. Their only loss came in 2014 at Stanford where a fourth rotation meltdown on beam became costly.
As for this season, the Pac-12 women's gymnastics coaches voted the two-time defending champions as the preseason favorite to win the conference regular-season title. Utah received 49 points and six of the seven first-place votes, projecting ahead of UCLA (41), Stanford (39), Oregon State (30), California (24), Arizona (21), Washington (13) and Arizona State (7). Stanford received the other first-place vote.
The journey for a "three-peat" begins this week. Utah's attempt to win the 2016 Pac-12 regular season title starts Saturday against No. 11 Oregon State — the 2013 conference champion — in Salt Lake City, where the Utes are 32-0 against the Beavers.
Utah and Oregon State are far from strangers to one another. In over 70 matchups dating back to 1979 — the fifth-longest series for the Utes — the Red Rocks have claimed victory 64 times. They've also won the last four matchups against the Beavers — the last loss coming in the 2013 Pac-12 Championship in Corvallis, Oregon.
So how do the Utes dominate the league for the third straight year? Consistency.
This year's gymnastics team is fluid with former years, starting the season undefeated. The 2-0 start includes wins over in-state rivals BYU (196.175-193.850) and Southern Utah (196.725-195.600). Five of the eight returning gymnasts have already scored career-bests and the freshmen are making a splash.
It's a promising start for a team that will face six opponents currently ranked in the nation's Top 25. But for now, it's all about keeping the dynasty alive and winning the Pac-12 Championship trophy — again.
Saturday's conference opener begins at 3 p.m. MT and will be televised on Pac-12 Network.
Holli Joyce is a University of Utah communications graduate and enjoys keeping up with the Utah Utes, Utah Jazz and Seattle Seahawks. Follow her on Twitter @Holli_Alexa.
