The Mount: Week 6

No. 4 Alabama at No. 8 Auburn: Friday, February 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Alabama Preview | Auburn Preview
In one of the biggest rivalries in sports, not just gymnastics, Alabama will travel to Auburn for the second meetup between the two teams this season. With the Crimson Tide taking the win in the first competition in Birmingham, the Tigers will be looking for their first victoryeverover their in-state rivals. But the team has faced adversity this season, losing two contributing freshmen to season-ending injuries in the same meet. But just last weekend, both teams tallied the same total score at different locations. Yes, you can’t really compare scores across meets, but it’s still something to note. On Friday, Auburn will have home floor advantage while Alabama will have a higher potential score. Depending on which of the 92 lineup variations the Tide decides to compete will play a factor in how close this meet will be.

No. 9 Arkansas at No. 2 Florida: Friday, February 12 at 7 p.m. ET
Arkansas Preview | Florida Preview
In the 10th annual Link to Pink meet in Gainesville, Florida will look to bounce back from some beam mishaps and an unexpected upset at Georgia last weekend. There’s little chance of Florida having another meltdown for the second week in a row, especially at home where the 10s and 198s are handed out like free samples at the grocery store. But Arkansas has shown multiple times this season it can pull out a win when no one sees it coming, already having beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa and coming from behind to top Auburn. The Gators’ focus will be more on putting up a score to get them back to No. 1 all while fixing mistakes big and small form last weekend. Arkansas will attempt to continue to play the spoiler while also working its way into the No. 4 spot in the SEC.

No. 5 LSU at No. 11 Georgia: Saturday, February 13 at 4 p.m. ET
LSU Preview | Georgia Preview
Coming off a huge upset over then-No. 1 Florida, Georgia will be looking to continue its success against LSU Saturday. It’s alumni day, and with former head coach Jay Clark coming to town, the pressure will be on to come out with a win. But more importantly, the Gymdogs will look to stay on the beam. Despite picking up the win over the Gators, the team still fell twice on the apparatus, so finally getting a hit is crucial if it wants any chance at postseason success. Time is running out to produce high scores that will allow the Gymdogs to throw away the bad meets for RQS. On the other side, LSU finally put up a complete meet last weekend against Arkansas. With a mid-197, the confidence has been sufficiently built heading to Athens. But there is still room for improvement. The freshmen are brilliant when they hit, but when they don’t or have mistakes, the level of the team is brought down. Becoming consistent is the Tigers’ next step toward challenging for the SEC and national titles.

No. 13 Stanford at No. 27 Arizona: Saturday, February 13 at 9 p.m. ET
Stanford Preview | Arizona Preview
Stanford has been better than most expect to start the season but still a bit off and on. The Cardinal finally eliminated all its Yurchenko layouts but still is having too many mistakes add up on all the events to challenge against any top team. When the angelic Ivana Hong has a rare fall or Elizabeth price gets rested, the team is visable less successful. Price wasn’t slated to compete floor last Monday but was put in at the last minute, warmed up only in the three-minute touch and produced a score that brought the team total up a whopping seven tenths. But the most exciting piece of Saturday night’s meet will be first-year head coach Tabitha Yim reuniting with her Cardinal. Arizona is coming off a season-high road mark against California and will look to continue the upward trend Saturday. If the team can stay consistent on its events and Stanford has a very early-season performance, the Gymcats have a real chance of winning the meet. But no matter what happens, the fans are bound to be entertained as Taylor Rice is up to her antics again, trying to decide which crazy dance moves to include in her floor routine.

No. 18 Minnesota at No. 14 Nebraska: Friday, February 12 at 9 p.m. ET
Minnesota Preview | Nebraska Preview
Nebraska is coming off its first loss to Iowa in 17 years while Minnesota is coming off a win over Illinois at home. Both Big 10 teams have had up and down seasons so far with Nebraska underperforming while Minnesota has been struggling to get back to its nationals-qualifying ways of a couple years back. If both teams hit, though, it’s Nebraska’s meet to lose. But, as gym fans know, anything can happen. Both teams have stars they count on to hit in Grace Williams and Lindsay Mable. And both need to produce big scores to help their teams to victory. The way the season’s going for the pair, the outcome could go either way.

Other Notable Matchups
No. 15 Missouri at No. 25 Kentucky: Friday, February 12 at 7 p.m. ET
Missouri Preview | Kentucky PreviewMissouri has had a stellar season so far, adding its name to the dark horse conversation for nationals. Kentucky, meanwhile, has been good but not great. Improving from last year’s injury-filled season, the team has been relying on rookies for big numbers. Missouri is also a young team, getting most of its successful scores from underclassmen. While Missouri is the better team on paper, a history of tricky scoring at Kentucky could make things interesting.

Perfect 10 Challenge: No. 12 Denver, No. 17 George Washington, No. 30 Utah State at No. 1 Oklahoma: Friday, February 12 at 8 p.m. ET
Denver Preview | George Washington Preview | Utah State Preview | Oklahoma Preview

The annual Perfect 10 Challenge in Oklahoma City is shaping up to be more exciting than fans probably thought at the start of the season. Oklahoma, coming off of two almost-198 performances last weekend now sits on top of the rankings. Chayse Capps had broken out as an all around star after only doing three events her first two seasons as a Sooner. Denver is also doing well this season, with Nina McGee stealing the show on floor every time out. Being able to compare her routines with those of Oklahoma at the same competition will be interesting to see. Where the Pioneers end up stacking up with the Sooners at the end of the night will be telling for Denver’s postseason prospects. George Washington is the new team on everyone’s radar this season after posting multiple 196+ totals to start the year. Backed by sophomores Jillian Winstanley and Cami Drouin-Allaire as well as junior Chelsea Raineri, the team is 9-0 and looking for more success of an even bigger stage in Oklahoma. Both Denver and George Washington are undefeated coming into the Perfect 10 Challenge, so both will be looking to upset Oklahoma in an attempt to keep the streak alive. Utah State has had a solid season so far and will be looking to just keep up with the other three teams on the floor as well as get experience on the podium should any of its individuals make nationals this season.

No. 26 Iowa at No. 20 Illinois: Saturday, February 13 at 5 p.m. ET
Iowa Preview | Illinois Preview

With Iowa coming off a high in upsetting Nebraska and picking up the win for the first time in 17 years, the Hawkeyes are coming into Illinois with confidence and the potential to make more noise. After a shaky start to the season in Cancun, the team has been steadily getting better and better and showing it’s not a team to be overlooked. Illinois has been underwhelming. Many called the Illini a nationals-threat before the season began, but with a couple of low scores and some of its supporting players not performing to potential, the team hasn’t been as successful as many expected it to be. Now with Mary Jane Horth injured — for who knows how long — Illinois needs to be more than the Giana O’Connor show and get more usable scores from the other team members.

No. 32 Washington at No. 6 Utah: Saturday, February 13 at 9 p.m. ET
Washington Preview | Utah Preview

Washington made noise when it upset Stanford at the Metroplex Challenge. Utah is coming off a close loss to UCLA in Los Angeles. While it will take a major implosion for the Utes to lose the meet, the GymDawgs have a chance of putting up a strong road score and continuing to move up in the rankings. Utah, with the help of some home scoring, will look to continue to maintain its much improved floor rotation while also working on vault landings and cleaning up beam.

No. 40 Michigan State at No. 3 Michigan: Saturday, February 13 at 2 p.m. ET
Michigan State Preview | Michigan Preview

There’s no doubt Michigan will win this one. But that’s not the goal of the meet. In honor of Michigan’s Cailee Hill’s father, the team is holding a “purple out” for its special “We Flip for Chip” event Saturday. But there will be gymnastics too. The Wolverines finally hit 197 Monday night and will seek to continue to improve upon that performance. When it’s on, the team can challenge the best of them. And even after being stuck in the 196.9s and having an off meet against Nebraska, the Wolverines still managed to maintain a third-place spot rank. Michigan State has also been doing fairly well so far this year. Lisa Burt and Elena Lagoski are standing out on the team and providing hit routines when it counts. Posting a nice road score Saturday will help the Spartans jump in the standings.

No. 16 Oregon State at No. 7 UCLA: Saturday, February 13 at 11 p.m. ET
Oregon State Preview | UCLA Preview

UCLA has made a lot of noise over the past week both negative and positive. Sophina DeJesus’ floor routine went viral when non-gym fans fell in love with her hip hop moves and big tumbling. The Bruins also swept the conference weekly awards and pulled out a win over rival Utah last Saturday. But many gym nerds weren’t happy with the result of that meet, claiming the Utes were the better team that afternoon. So this week, UCLA will look to prove it deserves to be on the winning side of things as it takes on Oregon State. Duplicating its floor performance from last weekend while improving vault, bars and beam is crucial. More attention will be placed on the competition now that the general public knows DeJesus’ name. We’ll just have to wait and see if she’s actually in the floor lineup again. Once hovering around the top 10, the Beavers are now No. 16 (or at an even lower 18th if you factor in Monday’s results. Eliminating the errors from Monday night’s meet is important if the Beavers want to stop slipping in the rankings. Consistency is key and the team needs to find those routine to count on for a hit every time out and a couple of 9.9s to throw in as well.

No. 24 West Virginia at No. 4 Alabama: Sunday, February 14 at 4 p.m. ET
West Virginia Preview | Alabama Preview

In Alabama’s second meet of the weekend, the Crimson Tide will look to improve upon any mistakes from the previous competition. It will also be a good opportunity for the newcomers to get a taste of what the postseason will be like with little rest in between. Don’t be surprised if the Tide’s lineups are completely different from the meet before, as that’s been head coach Dana Duckworth’s M.O. so far this season. But to really challenge for the top spots in the rankings and the titles come time, Alabama’s top six really need to start taking shape. Consistency is crucial when it comes to winning titles. West Virginia will be fresh with its first competition coming Sunday. Sitting in the top 25 after starting the season off well, the Mountaineers will get a good test in front of a large crowd. The team’s mental strength will be tested and regardless of the outcome, it will be a good test for the conference championships and regionals.

No. 19 California at No. 50 Arizona State: Monday, February 15 at 9 p.m. ET
California Preview | Arizona State Preview

California has been on a roll lately, first upsetting UCLA and then posting its second-highest team total in program history Monday versus Arizona. Toni-Ann Williams is finally coming into form and Zoe Draghi is producing the scores of a dependable, end-of-the-lineup star. With improved execution on bars and beam and better landings on vault, the team can make a push toward the end of the season. Arizona State has been quite underwhelming this season, but showed some improvements Monday at Stanford where it had a season-high. However, there were still a lot of mistakes. If the Gym Devils can clean things up, they can be on their way from No. 50 to something higher.

These aren’t the only meets happening this weekend! To see all the matchups all in one place, take a look at our master schedule. You can also find live scoring and video links below.