BATON ROUGE- The LSU gymnastics team joined the women’s track and field team and the men’s tennis team as the third LSU team in the last week to be picked in the top 10 in the nation in their respective preseason poll, as Sports Illustrated for Women tabbed the Tigers seventh in their NCAA gymnastics preview.
The Tigers finished the 1999 season ranked ninth in the nation and qualified for the NCAA Championships for the third year in a row where they came within .05 of advancing to the elite “Super Six.” LSU returns seven seniors from last year’s squad.
A pair of SEC teams dominate the top of the poll, as defending national champion Georgia has been picked to repeat and holds the No. 1 ranking, while Alabama enters the season second. Utah, UCLA and Michigan round out the top five.
Arizona State enters the season ranked sixth, followed by LSU, Nebraska, Penn State and Oregon State to complete the top 10.
LSU opens the 2000 season on Jan. 8 with a three-way meet in East Lansing, Mich., against Michigan State, Ohio State and No. 10 Oregon State.
Included in the Tigers 2000 schedule is a three-week stretch against the top three teams in the nation. After a Jan. 23 meeting with Georgia in Athens, the Tigers return home five days later to host third-ranked Utah, then host second-ranked Alabama on February 4.