It’s all about progress tonight
This is going to happen
The reigning national and SEC champion #2 LSU gymnastics program is on the road for the first time in SEC play. Tonight, they hit up Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for a duel with the #14 Razorbacks. The meet begins at 6:45 p.m. on SECN+, available on the ESPN app or online platform when you sign in with the TV provider that gives you access to SECN. Brett Dolan and Sydney Lemmerhirt will be on the call.
I want to note the following: Arkansas’ most recent meet was on Monday, January 20. The official Week 3 rankings include meets from 1/13-1/19. As such, all rankings referenced in this preview will be according to the daily rankings which update each day.
Match-up history for LSU and Arkansas
LSU is 47-6-1 in all competitions against Arkansas and is 8-2-1 at Arkansas. The last time the two teams met was at the first national semifinal in Fort Worth at which LSU beat Arkansas 198.1125-196.4750. The last time these two met in the regular season was on February 2nd, 2024, in the PMAC in which LSU set a program record for the highest team score in a 198.475-196.200 win.
LSU’s last visit to Arkansas in the regular season didn’t go so well. In front of a sold out Barnhill Arena, their first ever, the Hogs took down the Tigers 197.475-197.250.
About #14 Arkansas
Arkansas is coming off their best season since 2012 and third best season in the young history of the program (began in 2003). They finished sixth at SECs, best since 2022, and seventh overall. They hosted a regional and vaulted over Kentucky to make nationals for the first time 2018 when 12 teams made it to nationals. Those regional meets were hosted at Bud Walton Arena instead of the team’s traditional home of Barnhill Arena, a home they left for good starting in 2025.
Arkansas lost two NQS routines from their 2024 squad, one on beam from the graduated Sirena Linton and one on bars from the now-Pitt Panther Jaime Pratt. They retained a strong fifth-year senior in Jensen Scalzo and brought in solid grad transfers Kaitlyn Ewald from Illinois and Mati Waligora from Alabama. The biggest name that’s come in is freshman Joscelyn Roberson, a non-traveling 2024 U.S. Olympic alternate who wasn’t rated a 4-star recruit by College Gym News for reasons beyond my understanding. She’s competed in the all-around at every meet.
The Razorbacks are 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the SEC. Arkansas’ most recent meet was their home opener on Monday against Denver and Texas Woman’s. The Hogs put up a 197.000 in the tri-meet win, their best score so far. The Friday prior to that meet, they opened their SEC slate with a road loss to Auburn 196.700-196.250.
Arkansas is ranked #11 on vault [49.108], #19 on bars [49.000], #20 on beam [48.925] and #4 on floor [49.342]. The Razorbacks are led by head coach Jordyn Wieber in her sixth season at the helm. She is assisted by assistant coaches Chris Brooks in his sixth season with the program, Kyla Ross in her fourth season with the program and Catelyn Branson in her third season with the program overall and first since she left to take the head coaching job at Lindenwood in 2022. Lindenwood cut their program after the 2024 season, but they went out as MIC conference and USAG national champions.
About #2 LSU
LSU is ranked #1 on vault [49.383], #4 on bars [49.333], #5 on beam [49.317] and #1 on floor [49.467].
With all of the icy weather recently, there’s a good chance LSU had some changes to their typical practice schedule. From what I can gather, they didn’t practice on Tuesday and practiced in the morning on Wednesday. This might be meaningful, but that’s impossible to know for sure. One thing that is certain is that this will be the first time LSU has to start a meet on something other than vault, and that presents a good test of their mentality. The Tigers are the better team on paper, and they should win, but that doesn’t mean they will win. However, if they come in with the right mindset, they’ll show improvement, and that’s far more valuable than a win or loss.