Saturday’s earned, not given
In the postseason, there are three words to live by: don’t get eliminated!
#2 LSU comes into regionals on a high they haven’t felt in a few years and don’t have to travel very far. The Tigers will be in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for regionals today and hopefully Saturday as they look to make it back to nationals where they feel they belong. The first step there requires them to be in the top two of the second regional semifinal, which includes #15 seeded Minnesota, unseeded #18 Oregon State and unseeded #33 BYU. The meet will start at 7:00 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+ with Alex Perlman and Anastasia Webb on the call. The top two teams will advance to Saturday’s regional final to face #7 Kentucky and #10 Arkansas, who each advanced earlier today. Yes, I copied the majority of the team previews from the Better Know a Regional piece I published yesterday since I thought that gave a good intro to the teams. Also, I can’t find a definitive answer to the team that Central Michigan vaulter Elizabeth Cesarone is rotating with, so be aware she’ll go at some point.
LSU’s history against each team:
LSU is 11-0 against BYU all-time and 8-0 on neutral floors. The two teams last met on February 4, 2011, in the PMAC in a 195.875-193.750 LSU win. The two teams last met on a neutral floor at a national semifinal on April 13, 2000, where LSU won 194.950-194.750.
LSU is 18-8-2 against Oregon State all-time and 13-5-1 on neutral floors. The two teams met twice last season in the Denver Regional. LSU and OSU tied 197.325-197.325 on March 31st in a meet which snapped LSU’s SEC-leading drought of not tying an opponent in nearly 15 years. They then beat the Beavers 197.750-197.650 on April 2nd.
LSU is 18-0 against Minnesota all-time and 11-0 on neutral floors. The two teams last met at the 2019 Baton Rouge Regional Final on April 6th where LSU won 197.500-196.900. The two last met on a neutral floor on April 1, 2017, at the Lincoln Regional where LSU won 197.450-195.575.
#32 BYU (196.665 NQS, 11-15-1 overall (9-13 regular season), 3rd at Big 12s, begin on bars)
2023 finishes: 33rd overall, 2nd at MRGCs
Program overview: best finish ever: 8th (1991), best finish since 1998: 11th (’00 and ’05), ? conference titles (BYU didn’t have great records I could reference, their last title was the ’21 MRGC title), 0 individual NCAA titles, 8 nationals appearances (last in ’05), 0 Super 6 appearances, 0 Four on the Floor appearances
Event rankings: t-32nd on vault [49.150], t-24th on bars (w/ Clemson, Arizona State & Ball State) [49.255], t-29th on beam (w/ San Jose State) [49.205], t-37th on floor (w/ Arizona State) [49.295]
Preview: BYU is on a downswing in recent years. After five straight years finishing in the top 25, the Cougars have not been doing too great. This is a team that goes off in spurts either good or bad. They tend to stick in the mid-196 range, but they can flop a 195 or raise a 197 like the 197.050 season high at Big 12s. They’re one of the teams with a lot of talent, but with a core that isn’t enough to buoy them out of the play-in rounds, especially on the leg events. The Cougars advanced to this session on a tiebreaker with Boise State after tying them 195.750-195.750, the first in a First Round meet in NCAA history. Central Michigan all-arounder Luciana Alvarado-Reid will rotate with them.
Whom to watch for: Five individuals earned spots at regionals, but now they get to compete with their teams. Sydney Benson qualified on beam, Anyssa Alvarado and Anna Bramblett qualified on bars, and Brynlee Andersen and Elease Rollins qualified on beam.
#18 Oregon State (197.085 NQS, 15-8 overall (12-4 regular season), 5th at Pac-12s, begin on beam)
2023 finishes: 12th overall, 4th at Pac-12s
Program overview: best finish ever: 4th (’82 and ’91), best finish since 1998: 6th (’19), 6 Pac-10/12 titles (last in ’13), 6 individual NCAA titles (last was Amy Durham on floor in ’93), 26 nationals appearances (last in ’19), 2 Super 6 appearances (’95 and ’96), 0 Four on the Floor appearances
Event rankings: t-17th on vault (w/ Auburn) [49.240], 7th on bars [49.485], 25th on beam [49.235], 20th on floor [49.415]
Preview: The Beavers are coming in on a downswing and are hoping to reset their momentum quickly. After hitting their season high of 197.400 on March 1st vs Arizona State, they’ve had a worse score every week. This culminated in a 196.775 at the second session of the final Pac-12 championship, a worse score than the winner of the early session, Stanford. They have talent and ability to keep up and advance, but if they don’t get their heads right, it’ll be a long two hours. This is a very good bars team with lesser results on the other events. If they can hit, they can pull an upset and make regional finals. Emily Lopez and Emma Loyim of Boise State will rotate alongside the team. Lopez will compete on bars and Loyim will compete on beam and floor.
Whom to watch for: Jade Carey. Normally, there would be a lot to say about how good an athlete is. All I need to say is that she has a gym slam and is training to make it back to the Olympics for Team USA. She won the final Pac-12 floor title with a 10.0 and is expected to be in the all-around. She’s a strong contender for an individual spot to nationals on every event.
#15 Minnesota (197.310 NQS, 24-7 overall (16-6 regular season), 2nd at Big 10s, begin on floor)
2023 finishes: 18th overall, 3rd at Big 10s
Program overview: best finish ever: 6th (’22), 6 Big 10 titles (last in ’21), 1 individual NCAA title (Marie Roethlisberger on bars in ’90), 6 nationals appearances (last in ’22), 0 Super 6 appearances, 0 Four on the Floor appearances
Event rankings: 19th on vault [49.235], 21st on bars [49.285], 8th on beam [49.435], 11th on floor [49.560]
Preview: This is a team still on the rebound after losing two of the best gymnasts in program history after 2022. They had a very strong and surprising showing at Big 10s and their worst score since February came as the result of a fluky bars rotation. Other than that weird one, the Golden Gophers have been a solid 197-caliber team. They have a disparity between their best and worst events as seen above, but they should be capable of pulling off a solid enough meet to advance. Their consistent scores are better than OSU’s. Their season high is a 197.725 on senior day and their season high on the road is a 197.525 at Penn State on March 3rd. Hallie Hornbacher of Central Michigan will rotate with Minnesota and compete on floor, Courtney Blackson of Boise State will compete on bars and Adriana Popp of Boise State will compete on beam.
Whom to watch for: Mya Hooten. What can I say about her that hasn’t been said by countless others? The six-time Big 10 champion is coming off a perfect 3 for 3 meet in which she won all the titles she went for. The only event she doesn’t do is beam, but she’s quite capable on the other three and has six floor 10s in her career. She’s a heavy favorite to make it on floor as a result, but she can vault well, too. It’s pretty shocking she hasn’t gotten a 10 there with the many 9.975s she’s gotten including at Big 10s.
#2 LSU (198.215 NQS, 19-3 overall (12-3 regular season), SEC champions, begin on vault)
LSU is ranked 2nd on vault [49.510], 3rd on bars [49.570], tied for 3rd with Florida on beam [49.530] and 1st in NCAA history on floor [49.725].
Do not take a single thing for granted. Earlier today, host Michigan got eliminated from their regional after counting a fall on beam. LSU is going to want their A game today, but they can’t go too hard and risk flopping if they advance. Lineups will look how they look, all that matters is hitting. If LSU does their normal, they have a good shot of advancing. If they count a fall, yikes. It’s crunch time, and there isn’t much more to say than that.