- Southern Utah women's gymnastics joined the Pac-12 on July 1 as an affiliate, in a four-team league with Boise State, Oregon State and Utah State — two of which it faced last season, losing to Utah State twice by 0.15.
- This story sits inside Utah's olympic sports lane and connects to the larger statewide sports picture.
- The story is backed by 5 sources and a visible last-verified date.
September 8, 2026
September 8, 2026
4 min / 807 words
5 official links
Southern Utah women's gymnastics officially became a Pac-12 affiliate on July 1. 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.
The July 1 launch made the conference move real, not just a future line on a release. The Pac-12's announcement lists Southern Utah among the 12 new affiliate members it welcomed across Olympic sports, while the school calls the change the start of a new chapter for a program that has stayed in the NCAA regional field for 14 consecutive seasons.
Southern Utah gymnastics has a new conference home
The Pac-12 and Southern Utah announced the affiliation in September 2025, with membership set to begin alongside the reconfigured league's 2026-27 launch. Southern Utah is an affiliate member in women's gymnastics rather than a full Pac-12 member; its other sports began their return to the Big Sky on the same July 1 date.
That distinction puts the Flippin' Birds in a compact gymnastics league. The Pac-12 says Southern Utah joins Boise State, Oregon State and Utah State, giving Cedar City a recurring conference slate against three established western programs.
It also leaves Southern Utah competing in two conferences at once. Gymnastics answers to the Pac-12; the other 14 programs that moved on July 1 answer to the Big Sky. One of the gymnastics rivals, Utah State, is a full Pac-12 member whose football and other teams sit in the same league Southern Utah's gymnasts now join — so the two Utah schools are conference opponents in gymnastics and separate-conference opponents in nearly everything else.
Four straight titles brought the Flippin' Birds to this point
Southern Utah's final MPSF season ended with its fourth consecutive conference championship, according to the school's April season recap. The run spans the last Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference title in 2023 and three straight MPSF titles from 2024 through 2026.
The same recap lists a 14th straight NCAA Regional appearance in 2026. SUU also reported a 196.925 season high against UC Davis and a 49.525 floor score against Washington, which it identifies as the program's second-best floor mark.
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."
Southern Utah has already met two of its three new rivals
The Pac-12 gymnastics league will not be unfamiliar. Two of Southern Utah's three new conference opponents were on its 2026 schedule, and the margins were small enough to be worth remembering.
The Flippin' Birds opened 2026 by beating Boise State 195.675-194.300 at the America First Event Center in Cedar City on January 9. That is a win over a future conference rival, at home, by nearly a point and a half.
Utah State went the other way, twice. At the Best of Utah quad meet at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on January 12, Southern Utah posted 195.675 and finished behind all three in-state programs: Utah at 197.300, Utah State at 195.825 and BYU at 195.725. The gap to BYU was five hundredths of a point. Five days later in Logan, Utah State won again, 195.700-195.550 — another margin of fifteen hundredths.
Oregon State is the one new conference opponent Southern Utah did not face in 2026.
The affiliation itself was not a surprise. The Pac-12 and Southern Utah announced it in September 2025, more than nine months before it took effect, timed to the reconfigured league's 2026-27 launch.
The season behind the title
The championship run and the season record are two different stories. Southern Utah finished 2026 at 10-13 overall and 6-0 in conference competition, which 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 home-and-away split explains much of the rest. The Flippin' Birds were 6-2 in Cedar City, 1-5 on the road and 3-6 at neutral sites, a pattern common to a sport where meets are frequently multi-team events at a host venue.
Southern Utah's first Pac-12 schedule has not been published. When it is, it will show when Boise State, Oregon State and Utah State visit or host Cedar City.
Key facts:
- Pac-12 membership effective: July 1, 2026
- Membership type: Women's gymnastics affiliate
- Pac-12 gymnastics peers: Boise State, Oregon State and Utah State
- Most recent conference result: Fourth consecutive conference championship in 2026
- Recent postseason mark: 14 straight NCAA Regional appearances
- 2026 season: 10-13 overall, 6-0 in conference — 6-2 at home, 1-5 on the road
- Already played two new rivals: beat Boise State 195.675-194.300 on January 9; lost to Utah State by 0.15 twice, on January 12 and January 17
