The Mount: Week 9

No. 3 Alabama at No. 4 LSU: Friday, March 4 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Alabama Preview | LSU Preview
LSU hasn’t lost at home in a little more than forever. So Alabama winning will be a tough task. However, if the Crimson Tide’s lineups arefinallygetting solidified and/or LSU goes back to having beam troubles the competition could get interesting. LSU is stronger on vault and home floor while Alabama is probably the stronger team on bars. Beam is a toss up. Both teams have their strengths and weaknesses, so it’ll really depend on who hits the best and cleanest. But no matter the outcome, Alabama seriously needs to start creating some consistency in those lineups. This is the Tide’s last meet of the regular season as it had a bye next weekend. So how it performs now will be an indicator as to how it might perform at SECs in two weeks.

No. 6 Utah at No. 5 Michigan: Friday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Utah Preview | Michigan Preview
These two teams are sitting at around the low 197-mark when they hit, so this should be a close matchup. It will be interesting to see how Utah scores under Big 10 judging as it’s typically a bit stricter than that of the SEC or Pac-12. Utah is stronger on bars and Michigan floor. Both are pretty even on vault and have had troubles on beam this season. Utah has had less trouble, so that’s really the only thing you can go off of at this point. Michigan most likely has the slight advantage due to home floor and senior night festivities. Plus Kailah Delaney and Samantha Partyka will be limited yet another week.

No. 8 Auburn at No. 10 Georgia: Friday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Auburn Preview | Georgia Preview
Georgia has a whole lot of stuff to prove Friday night. The beam issue has gotten out of control and has begun spreading to other events when the Gymdogs had to count a fall last weekend on bars. But let’s hope that was just a fluke thing as Brittany Rogers is basically a goddess on the event. Auburn is the stronger team at this point. However, Georgia is stronger when it hits beam, so this is a toss-up. However, watch for home floor on top of senior night being a major factor in Georgia keeping it close or even coming away with the win even with potential beam troubles. It’ll be a close one, so the details will count. And Georgia can’t have any major mistakes if it wants to send its seniors away with one more home win.

No. 10 Georgia, No. 16 Stanford at No. 7 UCLA: Friday, March 6 at 3:00 p.m. ET
Georgia Preview | Stanford Preview | UCLA Preview
Georgia competes for the second time this weekend at UCLA Sunday. The Gymdogs are joined by Stanford in a tough matchup for all teams involved. Georgia will most likely be looking to rebound from trouble Friday night (although let’s hope that’s not the case) as well as put up a strong road score to eliminate some of the dismal marks notched in the beginning of the season. georgia will also use the opportunity to get a bit of redemption over Stanford whom it lost to earlier in the season. But the Cardinal has also been struggling. Now without Taryn Fitzgerald who tore her Achilles last week, the Cardinal are back to only putting up five on vault. That plus Ivana Hong the queen falling on beam contributed to the loss at Oregon State Monday. Stanford will want to come back strong after that hard loss and maybe not win at UCLA but at least put up a big number to help its case in the standings. It’s sitting in a No. 3-seed position right now, which is not a position a team that made Super Six last year should be in. UCLA is set up to win this one. However, if the trio of major contributors are gone again it could be close. However, home floor and the fabulous that is Bruin beam should push the team on top.

No. 18 Arizona at No. 1 Oklahoma: Friday, March 4 at 8:00 p.m. ET
Arizona Preview | Oklahoma Preview
Arizona is hanging onto a No. 3-seed at regionals and has the potential to push for that night session of Pac-12s in two weeks. Stanford, Arizona and Oregon State are all ranked very closely and one bad meet or one good on could push one over the other. Oklahoma will win this one and expect it to put up a big number since it’s not only competing at home but it’s senior night as well. Because of this shoo-in, Arizona’s goal will be more to put up a good road score in order to drop that pesky 194 it’s still counting in its RQS average.

Other Notable Matchups
No. 2 Florida at No. 23 Kentucky: Friday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Florida Preview | Kentucky PreviewBridget Sloan will tear into Lexington and leave no survivors in the aftermath as she’s coming off of two beam falls in a row and an out-of-bounds on floor. Florida in general was fine last week but not as good as usual, leading to that Tiger win. The Gators will surely win this one, but it’ll be more about putting up another strong road score than annihilating Kentucky. Will we see more Alex McMurtry on floor? Will Sloan fall again? Or is this the start of a downhill spiral for Florida. Unlikely, but anything can happen. Kentucky has been consistently in the top 25 this year. So staying there and fixing the last-minute details before SECs and regionals will be the goal.

No. 17 Iowa at No. 34 Iowa State: Friday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. ET
Iowa Preview | Iowa State Preview

Iowa has a chance to move even higher than it’s No. 17-ranking with a 196 on the road in this annual rivalry meet. The Hawkeyes have been strong as of late sans on minor slip up. Put up another low-to-mid 196 on the road, drop its last remaining 194 and potentially move into the top 12.

No. 9 Arkansas at No. 14 Missouri: Friday, March 4 at 8:00 p.m. ET
Arkansas Preview | Missouri Preview

Arkansas is the stronger team, but with any slipups or lowballed scores or another case of Missouri more-than-half-of-the-routines-are-season-highs and things could get exciting. It’s at Missouri and senior night, so the potential of another outrageous scoring performance by the judges like when Florida Came to town is high.

No. 19 Minnesota, No. 65 Air Force at No. 13 Denver: Friday, March 4 at 9:00 p.m. ET and No. 13 Denver, No. 19 Minnesota at No. 65 Air Force: Sunday, March 6 at 3:00 p.m. ET
Minnesota Preview | Denver Preview

These three teams compete twice this weekend, first at Denver and then at Air Force. While Air Force will be present, the meet is really about the Pioneers and Gophers. Minnesota is floating around the top 18, and a strong showing could move it up into that all-important No. 3-seed position. Denver, meanwhile, is hovering around the top-12, and another performance like last week’s record breaking one and the pioneers could be sitting in a two-seed position. Friday will be Nina McGee’s senior night, so the question isn’t if she will get a 10 but how many and who else will join her with all the 9.9s. Lindsay Mable will also be present, showing off her loveliness for all of Colorado to see.

No. 40 Ball State, No. 58 Seattle-Pacific at No. 20 Oregon State: Friday, March 4 at 10:00 p.m. ET
Oregon State Preview

Oregon State is currently sitting outside the top four in the Pac-12 and looking at the afternoon session of the conference championships should that meet take place tomorrow instead of two weeks from now. The Beavers will win this meet, especially since it’s senior night and scores will be flying. The No. 20-ranking isn’t something that reflects the talent on the Beavers’ squad. So the team needs to get a move on it if it wants to better its image. Fifth in the conference isn’t something we’re used to, so the first step is putting up a mark that enables them to throw out the last home 195 left in its RQS average.

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.