BATON ROUGE – For the third straight year the LSU gymnastics team will open a season ranked in the Top 5 as the Tigers checked in at No. 5 in the 2016 Preseason Coaches Poll released by Road To Nationals Tuesday.
LSU received 2,119 points and three first-place votes to rank fifth. This marked the 19th consecutive season in which LSU was ranked in the Top 15 in the preseason poll.
The Tigers’ opponent in the 2016 season opener, Oklahoma, is ranked No. 1 with 2,266 points and 29 first-place votes, setting up a Top 5 matchup in the Maravich Center on Jan. 9.
Defending national champion Florida is No. 2 at 2,234 points and 15 first-place votes, followed by Alabama at No. 3 with 2,174 points and four first-place votes and Utah at No. 4 with 2,171 points and 14 first-place votes.
All five home meets in 2016 will come against teams ranked in the Top 25 of the preseason poll. After LSU opens against No. 1 Oklahoma on Jan. 9, the Tigers’ other home meets will come against No. 21 Kentucky on Jan. 22, No. 13 Arkansas on Feb. 5, No. 10 Auburn on Feb. 19 and No. 3 Alabama on March 4.
Season tickets are on sale now at a cost of $25 for adults and $15 for youth ages 3-12 by visiting LSUtix.net, calling the LSU Ticket Office at 225-578-2184 or in person at the ticket office on the first floor of the LSU Athletics Administration Building.
In all, LSU will compete against 10 Top 25 ranked opponents during the 2016 season, including the Metroplex Challenge on Jan. 30 in Fort Worth, Texas against Oklahoma, No. 8 Stanford and No. 23 Missouri.
LSU is coming off a successful end to the fall with a solid performance at Gymnastics 101 on Monday in which the team posted a low 197 score.
The Tigers return nine letterwinners in total from last season’s squad, including six All-Americans in Sydney Ewing, Ashleigh Gnat, Myia Hambrick, Jessica Savona, Randii Wyrick and Shae Zamardi.
The team will take a break for the holidays and return to campus on Dec. 28 to continue preparation for the season opener against the top-ranked Sooners. The meet will begin at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 9 in the Maravich Center in what will be one of the most highly-anticipated openers in school history.
2016 Preseason Coaches Poll
December 15, 2015
Rank, Team (First-Place Votes), Points
1. Oklahoma (29), 2266
2. Florida (15), 2234
3. Alabama (4), 2174
4. Utah (14), 2171
5. LSU (3), 2119
6. UCLA, 1922
7. Michigan, 1912
8. Stanford, 1863
9. Georgia, 1839
10. Auburn, 1811
11. Nebraska, 1801
12. Oregon State, 1491
13. Arkansas, 1457
14. California, 1411
15. Illinois-Champaign, 1369
16. Denver, 1368
17. Penn State, 1246
18. Arizona, 1178
19. Boise State (1), 1154
20. Minnesota, 1024
21. Kentucky, 876
22. Ohio State, 869
23. Missouri, 852
24. Southern Utah, 829
25. Central Michigan, 821