Tigers look to make another trip to Fort Worth
This is a big one.
The back-to-back SEC champion and reigning national champion LSU gymnastics team is back in action after a day off. Today, they’ll face #8 Michigan State, #9 Kentucky and #16 Arkansas for one of two spots at the national semifinals in Fort Worth. The meet will be streamed at 4:00 p.m. on ESPN+ with Alex Perlman and Kennedy Baker on the call.
LSU’s history against Kentucky and Michigan State
LSU is 90-10 all-time against Kentucky and is 48-2 against them in neutral environments. The two teams last met on the same floor in Historic Memorial Coliseum on February 21st where the Tigers won 197.200-197.075. This was LSU’s most recent meet scoring below 198.
LSU is 24-3 all-time against Michigan State and is 12-1 against them in neutral environments. The two teams last met on the same floor at the 2016 Athens Regional at which LSU won 197.300-195.350.
#16 Arkansas (197.055 NQS, 9-10 overall (7-9 regular season), DNC at SECs, starts on beam)
Semifinal scores: 49.425 VT, 49.525 UB, 49.125 BB, 49.475 FX; 197.550
Event rankings: #15 on vault [49.225], t-#16 on bars [49.265], #14 on beam [49.315], #9 on floor [49.470]
Preview: Arkansas had the worst ending to a regional semi possible. Arkansas already clinched their spot in today’s meet, but they let Frankie Price do a floor routine so she could get a score to make nationals as an individual if the team failed to advance. Unfortunately, she suffered an injury consistent with an Achilles tear. Through tearful eyes, head coach Jordyn Wieber told the commentators that they’d be competing for her in the regional final, and I believe it. I’ve seen a team with no business going as far as they did make it far, and Arkansas is a team with the same heart. They may not be as talented as the other three teams here, especially after the injury, but if they can put up one of the best scores in program history with a bad beam rotation, they can put up an even better score that can launch them into nationals again.
#9 Kentucky (197.315 NQS, 10-12 overall (6-6 regular season), 6th at SECs, starts on vault)
Semifinal scores: 49.350 VT, 49.425 UB, 49.350 BB, 49.400 FX; 197.525
Event rankings: #5 on vault [49.345], #15 on bars [49.270], t-#9 on beam [49.385], #10 on floor [49.440]
Preview: This is a massive test. Kentucky was just a tenth behind MSU in their regional semifinal, so they’ll have to make that up if they want to return to nationals. I can throw out every cliché about this sport imaginable because of how tight this is going to be, but everyone knows they need to hit the fine details. The most important place they need to hit is the opening event. They lost to the Spartans because they didn’t hit vault as cleanly. It’s possible they make up the difference on the other three events, but that’s nowhere close to guaranteed. If they don’t stick more than one vault, they’re going to be in trouble.
#8 Michigan State (197.360 NQS, 24-4 overall (11-3 regular season), 2nd at B1Gs, starts on floor)
Semifinal scores: 49.525 VT, 49.450 UB, 49.250 BB, 49.400 FX; 197.625
Event rankings: #4 on vault [49.460], #7 on bars [49.440], #13 on beam [49.325], #13 on floor [49.420]
Preview: Michigan State has one appearance at nationals in their history, and that came in 1988. In 1988, 10 teams made nationals, nationals was a combined team and individual final competition, and first-time national champions Alabama won the team title with a 190.05. Michigan State’s reimagining into a national contender over the last decade has been one of the greatest turnarounds in NCAA history considering the context, and this is the best chance they’ve had in this period. Their rotation order forces them to start and end on their worst events, so they’ll need to overcome that issue. They are very capable of that if they can do the little things every great team does. The fight to get out of this regional is going to be extremely entertaining.
#1 LSU (198.115 NQS, 21-2 overall (11-2 regular season), SEC Champions, starts on bars)
Semifinal scores: 49.500 VT, 49.525 UB, 49.525 BB, 49.550 FX; 198.100
Event rankings: #1 on vault [49.540], #2 on bars [49.535], #5 on beam [49.495], #3 on floor [49.605]
Preview: If this team does its normal, it’s going to be an easy finish to regionals. LSU is better than the other three teams in this regional when they look as good as they typically do. They’re used to starting on bars, and if they make it through the first two events without many issues, they should sail on through to Fort Worth.