Ball State shines on the mats at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic

The GIST: Just three weeks into the season, women’s gymnastics teams are stunning judges left and right. Athletes racked up eight perfect 10s this weekend alone, with half coming from squads you might not expect...

The fresh faces: Hello, Ball State! The Cardinals exploded onto the national stage with a historic performance at Saturday’s Tennessee Collegiate Classic. Three athletes nabbed perfect 10s, helping the squad score 198.025 — a program record and the Mid-American Conference’s (MAC) highest team total ever. Hot damn.

• The Cardinals weren’t the only under-the-radar MAC team to impress at that meet: Kent State also set a program record with 197.725 points, plus grad student Karlie Franz’s perfect 10 on floor was the team’s first in nearly 20 years.

The Top-10 matchups: The SEC is arguably the nation’s toughest conference, and this Friday showed why: LSU gymnasts Kiya Johnson and Haleigh Bryant were perfect on floor and bars, respectively, leading their No. 8 Tigers to a fierce upset over No. 6 Kentucky, and newly-lethal No. 4 Arkansas proved they’re the real deal as they tied powerhouse No. 3 Alabama.

• And while No. 14 Michigan wasn’t in the Top 10 this weekend, they could be after today’s rankings update — yesterday’s big road win over No. 9 Ohio State signals a return to dominance for the Wolverines after a disastrous Week 1.

What’s next: There’s one more spicy-hot meet tonight to carry you through the freezing-cold week. The Big Ten is the other cutthroat conference, and two of its toughest, No. 15 Minnesota and No. 18 Iowa, will go head-to-head at 8 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network. Meet ya on the mat.