The Arizona GymCats are already preparing for the season that starts with the intrasquad GymCat Showcase in early December. Now they know who they will face when the competition gets real at the beginning
of January.
Arizona released its full schedule on Oct. 15. The GymCats will face eight teams that made the NCAA tournament last year and three more that finished just on the wrong side of the bubble. It will also face some teams multiple times.
Six of the eleven regular season meets will take place inside McKale Center. Five regular season meets and the Big 12 Championships will be on the road. They will only have two meets closer than six days apart once this year.
The annual GymCat Showcase will be held on Dec. 13, 2025. The intrasquad meet gives fans a sneak peek at the team before it gets ser
The regular season starts with an old Pac-12 opponent coming to Tucson. Washington will make the trip to McKale Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. The Huskies hosted the NCAA regional that Arizona competed in last season but they didn’t qualify for the postseason. UW finished 38th in NQS, just outside the top 36 that get to compete.
On Jan. 16, the GymCats have the first of three meets that will include Texas Woman’s. Arizona makes the trip to the Division II school in Denton, Tex. The meet will also include Denver, which competes in the Big 12 as an affiliate.
Towson comes to Tucson on Jan. 23. The Tigers had a heartbreaking finish last season. They finished 37th in NQS and were the first team left out of the postseason field.
Big 12 competition kicks off on Jan. 30 when the GymCats travel to BYU. The Cougars were one of the eight teams that competed in first-round “play-in” meets at regionals last season. They defeated Utah State to advance to the second round but their run ended there.
The following week has the Utah Red Rocks in McKale Center. Utah was the only team to defeat Arizona in Big 12 competition last season. The GymCats finished second in both the regular season and at the conference championships with Utah finishing in first both times. The Red Rocks advanced all the way to the national finals where they finished fourth behind Oklahoma, UCLA, and Missouri.
Just two days after facing Utah, Arizona takes a break from conference meets and goes to the Metroplex Challenge in Ft. Worth, Tex. on Feb. 8. The GymCats will compete in a quad meet that includes reigning champion Oklahoma. They will also face Arkansas, which finished 16th in NQS last year.
The third member of the group is a team Arizona will become very familiar with next season. The Metroplex features the second of three faceoffs against Texas Woman’s.
The GymCats return to Big 12 action on Valentine’s Day when they travel to Denver to take on the Pioneers. It’s the second meet featuring both teams in 2026 but the first in Big 12 competition.
Arizona beat Denver both during the regular season and at the Big 12 Championships last season, but the Pioneers ended up at No. 18 in NQS, three spots ahead of the GymCats. Both teams advanced to their respective regional finals in the NCAA tournament.
The next two weeks feature a home meet against West Virginia and a trip to Ames, IA to face Iowa State. The Mountaineers made it into the play-in meet of regionals last season where they fell to Maryland. The Cyclones finished 39th in NQS, a mere three spots from qualifying for the postseason.
The Big 12 regular season will wind down for Arizona with its Mar. 6 meet against Arizona State. The GymCats beat ASU three times last season. The first came in the regular season. UA repeated the feat at the Big 12 Championships. The pair of teams then traveled to Washington for regionals. Arizona once again bested ASU and advanced to the regional finals.
The GymCats have one more meet after their conference season is over. They host Ohio State, Southeast Missouri, and face Texas Woman’s for the third time this season on Friday, Mar. 13. The Buckeyes finished 25th in NQS last season and went out in the second round of the NCAA postseason.
The postseason gets underway at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, UT on Saturday, Mar. 21 followed by the 2026 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships.
