With China looming as heady competition for the gold, the U.S. eyes tonight’s men’s gymnastics final with hope.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Something likely will go awry at some point Monday night for the men of USA Gymnastics, because the sport is too infernally difficult not to expect some sort of hiccup along the way.

It’s the manner in which the five men on the floor — Chris Brooks, Jake Dalton, Danell Leyva, Sam Mikulak and Alex Naddour — react to adversity that in large part will determine whether they leave Rio Olympic Arena with medals in the gymnastics men’s team final.

Four years ago, the U.S. men posted the top qualifying score and then fell apart during team finals, finishing fifth. They ranked second in qualifying Saturday, a fraction of a point behind China, with plenty of room for improvement Monday night.

Three of five men on each of the eight teams will perform on each of six events in finals, and all three will count. Blown routines like the ones that crushed the 2012 team that included Dalton, Leyva and Mikulak can derail medal hopes.

“Three-up, three-count is anybody’s day,” said team captain Brooks, 29, of Houston. “We’ve seen some crazy things happen. We’ve seen Japan fall on high bar, and we’ve seen China make mistakes. They’re very, very good, but this is gymnastics.

“There’s no defense in gymnastics. If we hit routines and have stuck landings, hopefully that will be enough.”

The medal favorites are China, which had the top scores on rings and parallel bars Friday; Japan, led by defending all-around champion Kohei Uchimura; and perhaps Great Britain or Russia.

Kevin Mazeika, the men’s national team coordinator, has said he expects the winning team score to be between 272 and 275, which would be two to five points higher than the Chinese and Americans scored Friday.

Both teams have room for improvement, but a blown routine such as the ones Mikulak and Brooks suffered on pommel horse can be unforgiving.

“We have to keep ourselves together as a team,” Brooks said. “In 2012, it seemed like the team chemistry wasn’t quite there. They didn’t seem to be picking each other up as well. That’s something this group of guys can do. If something does happen, we will band together.”

Brooks will have some extra time to fill his captain’s role, because he will be used on only three of six events. The rotation plan is Naddour, Mikulak and Dalton on floor; Leyva, Mikulak and Naddour on horse; Brooks, Dalton and Naddour on rings; Mikulak, Dalton and Naddour on vault; and Mikulak, Brooks and Leyva both on parallel bars and high bar.

The U.S. men were tops on floor and high bar in qualifications, third on parallel bars, fourth on rings and vault and eighth on pommel horse.