Missouri at Illinois

Recap

The Big Storyline: Missouri put together one of the best beam rotations in the country to steal the win from the Illini after trailing the entire meet. The Tigers’ 49.525 ties Oklahoma and Denver for a top beam number in the first week. Illinois on the other hand was shaky on beam and missed what could have been a huge opening weekend score after strong showings on the other three events. Still, both teams will be very pleased with these solid numbers to build from moving forward, especially given the number of debut routines we saw across the meet.

Implications: Both the SEC and the Big Ten will be incredibly competitive this year, and these mid-196s put both teams in strong positions from which to build, from the middle of each respective conference’s standings.

Controversies: The way this meet was presented was bad. BTN+ is often questionable, but this broadcast included erratic camera work, fully missed routines (in a dual!) and one confused commentator often talking over his more knowledgeable counterpart. To top it off, the live scores never worked, and we only got sporadic updates on the broadcast.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 9 Missouri at No. 23 Illinois

Why You Should Make Time to Tune In: Missouri is coming off of a historic fifth-place finish at nationals while it’s looking like the Tigers will continue to fight for a spot in the top 10. It’ll be tricky, but with an outstanding freshman class and veterans who know what it takes to make it to nationals, the Tigers are looking to make it back to Fort Worth. It all starts with this meet. Even though Missouri had a stellar season in 2022, don’t look past the Illini. They might look different this year after losing some veterans in the offseason, but the new additions should help the team continue to rise in 2023.

Need More Proof? Illinois sophomore Makayla Green is returning from injury this year, and we expect to see her on multiple events. With the addition of Green and all of the incoming freshmen, Illinois will be trying to fill the shoes of the veterans lost in the offseason.