This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Members of Utah's gymnastics team might believe they are in for a big year in 2017, but evidently their confidence isn't shared with other collegiate coaches.

The Utes are just No. 6 in the coaches' preseason poll with 2246 points behind Oklahoma (2519), LSU (2412), Alabama (2336), UCLA (2328) and Florida (2291).

Utah's mid-level status is likely a reflection of its disappointing finish at the 2016 NCAA Championships, when a meltdown on the balance beam tumbled the Utes to just ninth out of the 12 teams at nationals.

Furthermore, the Utes have just one senior this year in Baely Rowe, so the sophomores and freshmen will be called upon to perform a lot of the routines.

However, the Utes said after their Red Rocks preview on Friday they are confident they have solved their beam problems with the return of Kari Lee from her Achilles tendon injury and the addition of MyKayla Skinner, an alternate to the 2016 Olympic team.

"We've worked hard to be the best beam team we can be," Rowe said. "We've come a long ways to become a good beam team."

The Utes open their season Jan. 7 against Michigan, which is ranked No. 7.

Joining Utah and UCLA in the poll from the Pac-12 were Cal at No. 10, Stanford at No. 11, Oregon State at No. 13, Arizona at No. 18 and Washington at No. 20.

Missing the cut for the top 25: Southern Utah, which received 789 points for No. 26, and Utah State at No. 30 with 417 points. BYU was No. 36 with 316 points. —

Top 25 Poll

1. Oklahoma 2519

2. LSU 2412

3. Alabama 2336

4. UCLA 2328

5. Florida 2291

6. Utah 2246

7. Michigan 1972

8. Auburn 1918

9. Georgia 1910

10. California 1844

11. Stanford 1839

12. Nebraska 1765

13. Oregon St. 1601

14. Denver 1433

15. Boise St. 1400

16. Minnesota 1357

17. Arkansas 1344

18. Arizona 1330

19. Missouri 1242

20. Washington 1197

21. Kentucky 1084

22. Iowa 1019

23. Penn St. 1017

24. Illinois 947

25. George Washington 837