Slam your body down
From The GIST College Sports (hi@thegistsports.com)
Welcome to the week!
And congrats to all the former college stars who carried the Kansas City Chiefs to yesterday’s NFL Super Bowl LVIII victory. While you ate wings and watched MVP quarterback (and Texas Tech alum) Patrick Mahomes do his thing, the college sports world went wild — let’s get caught up.
— Back-to-back WNBA champ Kelsey Plum, who prematurely congratulated No. 2 Iowa’s Caitlin Clark on breaking her NCAA women’s career scoring record yesterday. Clark only needs eight more points to do it, so Plum better watch Thursday’s game to nail the timing on her next post.
Basketball
🏀 It’s (court) storming in Nebraska
The GIST: Even in a season of nonstop women’s basketball (WBB) and men’s basketball (MBB) upsets, this weekend stood out. Here’s what you missed during the Usher concert.
Nebraska spoils Clark’s big day: As mentioned, No. 2 Iowa WBB superstar Caitlin Clark fell just shy of breaking the NCAA women’s career scoring record in yesterday’s stunning 82–79 upset loss to Nebraska. But even when her team loses, Clark shines: Her 31-point double-double made her the sixth Division I women’s hooper in history with 1K career assists.
No. 17 Oregon State WBB sweeps No. 4 Colorado: After stunning then–No. 3 Colorado with a 68–62 upset on January 26th, Oregon State ran it back with yesterday’s 65–59 dub — the Beavers’ first Top-5 road win ever. Junior guard Talia von Oelhoffen led the Beavs in scoring with 18 points…and in the social media game with this tweet.
No. 1 South Carolina leaves no doubt: Fans expected a clash of the titans when the top-ranked Gamecocks hosted powerhouse No. 11 UConn yesterday, but South Carolina proved why they’re undefeated by rolling over the Huskies 83–65.
SEC MBB descends into chaos: Both No. 6 Tennessee and No. 12 Auburn were blown out by unranked conference foes on Saturday, placing one time–underdogs No. 15 South Carolina and No. 16 Alabama atop the conference standings.
- But the ugliest loss was No. 17 Kentucky’s 89–85 heartbreaker to nonconference opponent Gonzaga, the Wildcats’ third straight home L — their longest home skid since 1966. Woof.
Collapse continues for Wisconsin’s No. 11 men: The Badgers went from the country’s hottest team to four straight losses, capped by Saturday’s 78–56 disaster at Rutgers (yes, that Rutgers). Elsewhere in the Big Ten’s Saturday action, Michigan State strengthened their postseason push with an 88–80 dub over No. 10 Illinois.
Edey finally sinks a three: It took nearly four seasons, but No. 2 Purdue men’s basketball’s star senior center and reigning Player of the Year Zach Edey drained his first career three-pointer, aka “the Three-dey,” in the Boilermakers’ 79–59 win over intrastate rival Indiana. Looks like the bank’s open on Saturdays.
Women's gymnastics
🤸 Lucky number 13
The GIST: What does No. 3 LSU’s Haleigh Bryant have in common with Taylor Swift? Thirteen is her lucky number. In Friday’s win over No. 19 Georgia, the senior earned her 13th career perfect score and her first on beam, becoming the 14th NCAA women’s gymnast ever to achieve perfection in all four events (aka a gym slam). Mind-blowing.
Why it matters: Even though they’re more common on the college mat than in international competition, perfect 10s are still a BFD — including Bryant, only five gymnasts have multiple 10s so far this season, but she’s the only one to do it in more than one event.
What’s next: Bryant’s still 15 perfect scores shy of the NCAA career record — which Florida alum Trinity Thomas met last year — but with another year of eligibility left due to COVID-19, and plenty more routines before April’s season finale, she’s definitely in the hunt.
- As for her Tigers, Bryant’s leading them to a fantastic season: LSU could make a serious run at reigning champ Oklahoma when the natty rolls around. She’s not the most famous member of their roster, but she’s definitely the most dominant.
Together With The GIST
🎙️ Sound off
Looking for a new listen? Check out our twice-weekly podcast, The GIST of It. Hosted by BFFs Ellen Hyslop and Stephanie Rotz, it’s the women-produced and -hosted sports pod you’ve been waiting for.
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🤸 Elsewhere in women’s gymnastics, No. 14 Auburn shook up the cutthroat SEC with Friday’s 197.725–197.050 smackdown of rival No. 7 Alabama — all in front of a sold-out home crowd. Positively beam-ing.
🤼 It’s official — No. 1 Penn State are the kings of the mat. The Nittany Lions thrashed No. 3 Iowa 29–6 on Friday and are on track to break the NCAA wrestling all-time scoring record. Sheesh.
🏌️ The No. 2 UNC men took the 2024 Amer Ari Invitational team title on Saturday, but No. 7 ASU freshman Wenyi Ding won the weekend: In just his second college competition, Ding nabbed the individual trophy with what’s believed to be the lowest three-round score in NCAA history. Wow.
🥎 The NCAA softball season began with a bang this weekend. Kentucky eked out two tight dubs over powerhouse No. 3 Stanford, and No. 5 Texas plated at least 16 runs in three of their four weekend wins over San Diego and No. 8 UCLA.
🥍 Speaking of stellar season starts, Saturday saw No. 1 Northwestern women’s lacrosse beat No. 5 Syracuse 18–15 to open their title-defending run, and No. 6 James Madison upset No. 3 UNC 19–18 in an overtime thriller. No re-lax-ing here.
🎾 The ITA Women’s Indoor Championship final is set! Yesterday, in their first-ever ITA semi, No. 4–seed Michigan defeated No. 8 NC State (who ousted defending champ No. 1 UNC in Saturday’s quarter-final) while No. 3 Oklahoma State edged No. 2 Stanford to make today’s 3 p.m. ET match for all the marbles.
🏒 No. 3 Boston University will hunt their 32nd (!!!) men’s Beanpot title tonight, with only Northeastern standing in the Terriers’ way. Tune into NESN at 7:30 p.m. ET to find out which team rules Boston.
Peep our squad’s MVPs (Most Valuable Picks):
❣️ What to celebrate
Galentine’s Day! Thanks to Leslie Knope, tomorrow’s precursor to Valentine’s Day is another reason to celebrate the women in your life. Cheers to that!
🏋️ How to stay in shape
With a ClassPass membership. Try different workouts, studios, and classes all winter long.
📺 What to watch
The Sex Lives of College Girls, the fictional TV series about four freshmen navigating the chaos of campus life. Don’t miss the show’s fifth episode, where the disparity between men's and women's college sports is on display.
Today's email was brought to you by Katie Kehoe Foster, Dee Lab, Ruth Lenzen, Emma Fernandez, and Briana Ekanem. Editing by Lindsay Jost and Isabella Troia. Fact checking by Mikaela Perez. Ops by Lisa Minutillo and Elisha Gunaratnam. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Lauren Tuiskula, and Dee Lab. Managing edits by Dee Lab and Katie Kehoe Foster. Head of Content Ellen Hyslop.