LINCOLN, Neb. — After a final workout at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Wednesday afternoon the LSU gymnastics team is set to take on the nation’s best tomorrow as it begins competition at the NCAA Championships.
The Tigers will begin with the preliminary round of the team competition Thursday afternoon. LSU will participate in the day’s early session that begins at 1 p.m. (CST) and features defending national champion Alabama, top-ranked UCLA, Arizona State, Michigan and Iowa.
The top three teams from the day session as well as the top three teams from the evening session will advance to the Super Six competition to be held Friday at 7 p.m.
Thursday’s evening session will consist of three SEC teams in Florida, Georgia and Auburn as well as Stanford, Utah and host Nebraska.
“Every team here is very good or else they wouldn’t be here,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “It’s going to be a tough competition, but I think our team is just as capable of making the Super Six as any of the other 11 teams participating. It’s going to come down to hitting clean sets and sticking dismounts because there isn’t a large margin of error against this type of competition.”
LSU will have its work cut out for them in Thursday’s competition as it only owns a winning postseason record against Arizona State. In addition, the Tigers have faced Alabama twice this season and came out with an 0-2 record.
LSU has drawn a favorable rotation schedule as it will compete in Olympic order. The Tigers will begin competition on the vault, move to a bye rotation, return to action on the bars and beam, and then sit out with their second and final bye rotation before concluding the meet on the floor exercise.
The Tigers are making their sixth appearance at the national championships in the past seven years and the 15th appearance in the program’s history.
LSU has finished in the top 10 in each of its last four NCAA meets, placing eighth in 2002 and ninth in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
LSU’s best finish came during the 1988 season when they placed fourth overall before the Super Six format was adopted. The Tigers enter the NCAA Championships eyeing their first ever bid to the Super Six competition.