The postseason is looming for No. 2 Oregon acrobatics and tumbling, and now, its path is set. The National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association announced its final championship rankings on April 13. For the Ducks, it’s a familiar road ahead.
The path to a potential title would see them face a flurry of opponents whom they’ve largely seen and conquered in 2025. It’s a fast-paced battle, but one they’ve fought before. The title bout would likely see Oregon face No. 1 Baylor in a battle of heavyweights that has mostly swung the Bears’ way. A win there would mean the Ducks’ first title in over a decade.
Oregon (5-2) finished its regular season over two weeks ago, with a second loss to Baylor in Waco. The Ducks, though, rolled through the rest of their opponents, including No. 7 Mary Hardin-Baylor — their quarterfinal opponents.
The Cru (7-3) came to Matthew Knight Arena earlier this season, on the Ducks’ senior night. They were trounced as Oregon bounced back from a shaky win over Gannon University to close its home schedule in style with a 19.175-point home win. Since then, UMHB won the Division III Tournament, but hasn’t beaten a ranked team and lost narrowly to No. 6 Iona University in its home finale.
Should they advance, the Ducks would face another well-known foe: No. 3 Quinnipiac University, which Oregon beat 272.380-271.165 on the road, and Iona, which the Ducks trounced 270.630-257.370 in New York, battle in the opposite quarterfinal.
Neither is a frightening matchup for Oregon, and although its win over Quinnipiac was its closest this year, a loss to either would be a surprising upset for the Ducks.
The real goal lies in the final. No. 1 Baylor (8-0) has not failed to win the NCATA Championship since head coach Felecia Mulkey took over in 2015. The Bears will have to advance past No. 8 Limestone University (12-1) in the quarterfinal, then either No. 4 Augustana University (6-0) or No. 5 Fairmont State University (10-1). Despite impressive records, none have beaten a top-three team — and aren’t likely to prove more than a speed bump to the reigning champions.
This is the battle that Oregon has been waiting for, over and over again. In the last five years, it’s been the same result every time. The 2025 regular season proved no different, and the Ducks dropped a home-and-home series with the Bears despite laying down two of their best efforts of the season.
In the regular season-end loss, they came close with their best score of the season, a 283.305 mark that included a perfect-10 in the open pyramid heat. It just wasn’t enough.
The Ducks are the last team to beat the Bears at all, in a 2021 regular season meet. They’re perhaps the only one with the all-around ability and experience to even think of dethroning the queens.
The excellence is there. The Ducks are among the NCATA’s best in every event they need to win in, and they’re peaking at the right time. Even so, in order to claim a first national title in over a decade, it’ll take an effort that harkens back to that meet in 2021. The ultimate win would mean everything to a program that hasn’t done so since 2014.
The 2025 NCATA Championships will be streamed live on ESPN+. Oregon’s quarterfinal meet, against UMHB, is scheduled for April 24, at 11:30 AM Pacific Time.
