BATON ROUGE — LSU’s 2007 gymnastics schedule has been tabbed the toughest in the nation among the top-10 teams in the Preseason Coaches Poll according to annual Strength of Schedule Analysis released this past week.
Teams were ranked according to their schedule difficulty index (SDI) which is calculated by awarding 10 points for scheduling the No. 1 team in Preseason Coaches’ Poll, nine points for the No. 2 team, on down to one point for the 10th-ranked team. No points were awarded for scheduling teams ranked below the top 10 in the Preseason Coaches Poll and no SDI was calculated for teams ranked below 10th in the poll.
The Tigers are listed at No. 1 with a SDI of 70. Georgia, the defending SEC and NCAA champions, are ranked second with a SDI of 57. Florida (53), Alabama (47) and UCLA (35) round out the top five.
LSU, who enters the preseason ranked ninth nationally, will face five of the top-10 teams in the country in No. 1 Georgia, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Alabama, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 8 Stanford.
The Tigers will face three of those teams in the friendly confines of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center as Georgia visits the PMAC on Feb. 2, Florida comes to town on Feb. 23 and Nebraska is scheduled for March 16.
In addition, LSU will take on Florida and Nebraska in a neutral setting at the season-opening Super Six Challenge in Fayetteville, Ark. The Tigers will then face the Huskers again, as well as Stanford, on Feb. 25 at the Masters Classic in Lincoln, Neb., before traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala., March 2, for a dual meet with Alabama.
The 2007 season gets underway Jan. 5 when the Tigers travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Super Six Challenge.
Schedule Difficulty Index for Top-10 Teams in the 2007 Preseason Coaches Poll
Team
Preseason Ranking
Schedule Difficulty
Index (SDI)
1. LSU
9
70
2. Georgia
1
57
3. Florida
3
53
4. Alabama
4
47
5. UCLA
5
35
T6. Utah
2
33
T6. Stanford
8
33
T6. Nebraska
7
33
9. Michigan
6
23
10. Oklahoma
10
18