BATON ROUGE – Coming off the highest finish in school history as the NCAA Runner-Up, the LSU gymnastics team will open the 2017 season and the 40th under head coach D-D Breaux ranked No. 2 in the Road to Nationals preseason poll.
The Tigers finished second in the Preseason Coaches Poll released by RoadtoNationals.com with 2,412 points and 11 first-place votes. LSU ranks behind No. 1 Oklahoma which totaled 2,519 points and 47 first-place votes.
The second-place ranking marks the fourth-straight year that the program will open a season ranked in the Top-5. It is also the 20th consecutive season in which LSU is ranked in the Top-15 in the preseason poll.
In 2017, LSU will face off against 10 teams ranked in the Top-25, including five in the Top-10. Alabama totaled 3,336 points for third, UCLA followed in fourth at 2,328 points and Florida rounded out the Top-5 with 2,291 points.
Four home meets in 2017 will come against teams ranked in the Top-25 of the preseason poll beginning with the ninth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6 inside the Maravich Center. The Tigers will take on No. 19 Missouri on Feb. 3, No. 25 George Washington and No. 22 Iowa on Feb. 19, and No. 5 Florida on March 10.
Season tickets are on sale and begin at $30 for adults and $18 for youth ages 3-12. To purchase season tickets, visit LSUtix.net, call the LSU Ticket Office at 225-578-2184 or buy in person at the ticket office on the first floor of the LSU Athletics Administration Building.
The team will be in action for a free showcase event, the fourth annual Gym 101, at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Season ticket holders will be able to pick up their tickets at the event along with the 2017 “Holy Cow” t-shirts. Both will be available near portals C and D on the south side of the concourse.
Freshmen Ruby Harrold, Kennedi Edney and Ashlyn Kirby will make their debut in the Maravich Center at the event. The Tigers, under the direction of Breaux, also return six All-Americans in Ashleigh Gnat, Sydney Ewing, Shae Zamardi, Myia Hambrick, Sarah Finnegan and Lexie Priessman.
2017 Preseason Coaches Poll
December 12, 2016
Rank, Team (First-Place Votes), Points
1. Oklahoma (47), 2519 points
2. LSU (11), 2412 points
3. Alabama (5), 2336 points
4. UCLA (5), 2328 points
5. Florida (2), 2291 points
6. Utah (2), 2246 points
7. Michigan, 1972 points
8. Auburn, 1918 points
9. Georgia, 1910 points
10. California, 1844 points
11. Stanford, 1839 points
12. Nebraska, 1765 points
13. Oregon State, 1601 points
14. Denver, 1433 points
15. Boise State, 1400 points
16. Minnesota, 1357 points
17. Arkansas, 1344 points
18. Arizona, 1330 points
19. Missouri, 1242 points
20. Washington, 1197 points
21. Kentucky, 1084 points
22. Iowa, 1019 points
23. Penn State, 1017 points
24. Illinois-Champaign, 947 points
25. George Washington, 837 points