Gymnastics in Session 1 of NCAA Semifinals

BATON ROUGE – The LSU gymnastics team learned they will compete in Semifinal I at the NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Ala., on April 18, the NCAA announced on Monday.

Third-seeded LSU (20-5) will take on five competitors who also advanced from the right side of the bracket. Those teams are No. 2 seed Oklahoma, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Michigan, No. 10 Stanford and No. 11 Illinois, and Semifinal I is slated to begin at 1 p.m. CT on April 18 in BJCC Arena in Birmingham, Ala.

The second national semifinal is composed of teams from the left side of the bracket. Semifinal II will begin at 7 p.m. on April 18 and feature No. 1 seed Florida, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Utah, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Nebraska and No. 15 Penn State.

The top three teams from each semifinal will compete for the national title in the NCAA Super Six the following night at 6 p.m. on April 19.

LSU will begin the semifinal on the bye before floor and rotate to floor, vault, bye, bars and beam.

Georgia will begin on vault, while Illinois starts on the bye before bars, Michigan opens on bars, Oklahoma begins on beam and Stanford starts on floor.

LSU also climbed to No. 1 in the national rankings with a 396.045 national qualifying score (NQS) in the updated GymInfo standings released Monday. The NQS is determined by adding a team’s NCAA regional score to the team’s final regional qualifying score (RQS).

LSU posted the nation’s highest regional score with a school-record 198.325 that combined with the Tigers’ final RQS of 197.720 to earn a 396.045 NQS.

Oklahoma tallied the nation’s second-highest regional score with a 197.725 in the Minneapolis Regional to record a 395.500 NQS that ranks second nationally.

Overall, the Southeastern Conference featured seven teams in the rankings with LSU at No. 1, Alabama at No. 3 (395.165), Florida at No. 4 (394.945), Georgia at No. 9 (393.640), Arkansas at No. 15 (392.730), Auburn at No. 20 (391.610) and Kentucky at No. 21 (391.510).

Tickets to the NCAA Championships are available by logging on to http://www.gymnasticschamps.com/.

NCAA Championships Schedule
Birmingham, Ala. – BJCC Arena

Friday, April 18, 1 p.m. CT – Semifinal I
No. 2 seed Oklahoma (Minneapolis Regional Winner)
No. 3 LSU (Baton Rouge Regional Winner)
No. 6 Georgia (Athens Regional Runner-Up)
No. 7 Michigan (Athens Regional Winner)
No. 10 Stanford (Baton Rouge Regional Runner-Up)
No. 11 Illinois (Minneapolis Regional Runner-Up)

Friday, April 18, 7 p.m. – Semifinal II
No. 1 Florida (University Park Regional Winner)
No. 4 Alabama (Seattle Regional Winner)
No. 5 Utah (Fayetteville Regional Winner)
No. 8 UCLA (Fayetteville Regional Runner-Up)
No. 9 Nebraska (Seattle Regional Runner-Up)
No. 15 Penn State (University Park Regional Runner-Up)

Saturday, April 19, 6 p.m. – Super Six
Top three teams from each Semifinal compete for the team national title.

Sunday, April 20, 2 p.m. – Individual Event Finals
Top four individuals in each event (plus ties) from Friday’s semifinals compete for national titles on each event.

NCAA Semifinal Session I: Rotation Order

GymInfo Gymnastics Top 25
April 7, 2014

Rank, Team, National Qualifying Score (NQS)
1. LSU 396.045
2. Oklahoma 395.500
3. Alabama 395.165
4. Florida 394.945
5. Utah 394.875
6. Stanford 394.090
7. Nebraska 393.870
8. Michigan 393.855
9. Georgia 393.640
10. UCLA 393.605
11. Illinois 393.250
12. Penn State 393.200
13. Oregon State 393.140
14. Minnesota 392.855
15. Arkansas 392.730
16. California 391.970
17. Central Michigan 391.900
18. Denver 391.830
19. Boise State 391.670
20. Auburn 391.610
T21. Kentucky 391.510
T21. Iowa State 391.510
23. Ohio State 391.005
24. Arizona 390.985
25. New Hampshire 390.905