- Southern Utah women's gymnastics joined the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026, in a four-team league with Boise State, Oregon State and Utah State. In 2026 it beat Boise State and won at Oregon State, and lost all four meetings with Utah State.
- Niya Randolph, Berlin Hall, Southern Utah Gymnastics connect back to Southern Utah University and the wider gymnastics picture.
- The story is backed by 15 sources and a visible last-verified date.
September 8, 2026
October 18, 2026
4 min / 863 words
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Southern Utah women's gymnastics officially joined the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026. The Flippin' Birds enter the 2026-27 season in a four-team conference with Boise State, Oregon State and Utah State, after closing their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation run with a third straight league title and a fourth straight conference championship overall. The Southern Utah gymnastics team page carries the official roster, schedule and dated results.
A new conference home
The Pac-12 and Southern Utah announced the gymnastics affiliation in September 2025, with membership beginning at the reconfigured league's 2026-27 launch. On July 1, SUU's announcement said, 14 of its athletic programs returned to the Big Sky Conference while the Flippin' Birds began their Pac-12 membership, becoming one of four institutions in the league's gymnastics competition.
That leaves Southern Utah competing in two conferences at once. Gymnastics answers to the Pac-12; the other programs answer to the Big Sky. One of the gymnastics rivals, Utah State, is a full Pac-12 member, so the two Utah schools are conference opponents in gymnastics and opponents from different leagues in nearly everything else. The Pac-12 lists its 2027 gymnastics championship, a four-team meet, for March 20 at Oregon State.
Four straight titles brought the Flippin' Birds here
Southern Utah's final MPSF season ended with its fourth consecutive conference championship, according to the school's April season review: the last Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference title in 2023 and three straight MPSF titles from 2024 through 2026. The 2026 title came at home in the America First Event Center on March 21, where SUU scored 194.850 to finish ahead of Sacramento State, UC Davis and Alaska Anchorage.
Head coach Scotty Bauman framed the move plainly in the joint Pac-12 announcement: "We've built something special here in Cedar City. Our athletes, staff, and supporters have put in the work to earn national respect." The 2026 season was Bauman's 35th in charge, and in February SUU extended his contract through 2031.
Southern Utah has already met all three new rivals
The Pac-12 gymnastics league will not be unfamiliar. All three of Southern Utah's new conference opponents were on its 2026 schedule, and SUU beat two of them.
The Flippin' Birds opened 2026 by beating Boise State 195.675-194.300 in Cedar City on Jan. 9. On Feb. 14 they won at Oregon State 196.825-196.300, their best score of the season to that point. Boise State won the rematch in Boise on March 13, 196.275-195.850.
Utah State was the hardest matchup. The Aggies beat Southern Utah four times: at the Best of Utah quad meet at the Maverik Center on Jan. 12, where SUU's 195.675 trailed Utah State's 195.825; in Logan on Jan. 17, 195.700-195.550; at Utah State's quad meet on Feb. 9, 195.875-195.525; and in Cedar City on March 2, 196.875-195.725. The first two margins were fifteen hundredths of a point each.
The season behind the title
Southern Utah finished 2026 at 10-13 overall and 6-0 in conference competition, as its schedule page counts each opponent in a multi-team meet. That is how a team with a losing overall record collects a fourth straight league title: it did not lose to a conference opponent all year. The Flippin' Birds were 6-2 in Cedar City, 1-5 on the road and 3-6 at neutral sites.
On March 6, senior night, SUU beat Washington 196.900-195.550 and Niya Randolph scored 9.975 on floor, a program record. SUU's season high was 196.925 against UC Davis on Feb. 27. The MPSF named Randolph its Gymnast of the Year for a third straight season and Berlin Hall its Freshman of the Year.
SUU's season review counts the April 2 Tempe Regional as a 14th straight NCAA regional appearance; its record book lists 20 regional years from 2000 through 2025, with no NCAA postseason in 2020. In Tempe, SUU scored 195.725 and placed fourth in its session behind Michigan State, Georgia and BYU.
What comes next
Southern Utah's first Pac-12 schedule had not been published when this story was updated on Oct. 18, 2026. When it is, it will show when Boise State, Oregon State and Utah State visit or host Cedar City. The Utah college gymnastics guide sets the Flippin' Birds alongside the state's other three programs.
*Correction, Oct. 18, 2026: An earlier version of this story said Southern Utah did not face Oregon State in 2026 and lost to Utah State twice. SUU won at Oregon State on Feb. 14, lost all four meetings with Utah State, and lost at Boise State on March 13.*
Key facts:
- Pac-12 membership effective: July 1, 2026, in women's gymnastics
- Pac-12 gymnastics peers: Boise State, Oregon State and Utah State; the 2027 championship is March 20 at Oregon State
- Most recent conference result: fourth consecutive conference championship, won at home on March 21, 2026 with 194.850
- 2026 season: 10-13 overall, 6-0 in conference, as SUU's schedule page counts multi-team meets
- Against the new rivals in 2026: beat Boise State 195.675-194.300 (Jan. 9) and Oregon State 196.825-196.300 (Feb. 14); lost to Boise State (March 13) and four times to Utah State
- Program record: Niya Randolph's 9.975 on floor against Washington, March 6, 2026
- Head coach: Scotty Bauman, 35 seasons through 2026, extended through 2031