Top 25 Schedule:
Friday – 2/24/12
7:00 ET / 4:00 PT – [3] Georgia @ [1] Florida
7:00 ET / 4:00 PT – [15] Auburn, Pittsburgh @ Kentucky
7:00 ET / 4:00 PT – Kent State, William & Mary, Towson @ [19] NC State
7:30 ET / 4:30 PT – Bowling Green @ [17] Missouri
8:00 ET / 5:00 PT – [21] Michigan, Texas Women's @ [2] Oklahoma
8:00 ET / 5:00 PT – [3] Alabama @ [13] LSU
8:00 ET / 5:00 PT – [9] Nebraska @ [7] Arkansas
8:00 ET / 5:00 PT – [22] Minnesota @ Iowa
9:00 ET / 6:00 PT – [12] Stanford @ [5] Utah
10:00 ET / 7:00 PT – [16] Boise State @ [8] Oregon State
10:00 ET / 7:00 PT – [25] Washington @ [14] Arizona
Saturday – 2/25/12
4:00 ET / 1:00 PT – [10] Penn State @ [11] Ohio State
6:00 ET / 3:00 PT – [18] Illinois @ Illinois-Chicago
7:00 ET / 4:00 PT – [23] West Virginia @ New Hampshire
8:00 ET / 5:00 PT – Sacramento State @ [20] Denver
Sunday – 2/26/12
3:00 ET / 12:00 PT – [22] Minnesota @ Iowa State
5:00 ET / 2:00 PT – [24] Arizona State @ [6] UCLA
Is anyone else having premonitions of a big scoring weekend? (I mean even more than usual, snarkypants.) Nearly all of the top teams are either at home or visiting a high scoring venue. I think we can all assume that the judges at the Georgia/Florida meet will be viewing the 197.850 from two weeks ago as a challenge.
Georgia is coming off a strong home meet led by Kat Ding's emergence as a national all-around threat with a 39.550. Of particular importance for the Gym Dogs over the next two weeks will be solidifying those beam and floor lineups. Will Moffat, Breazeal, and Box stay in? When will Earls be back? Is Chelsea Davis going in on those events?
As we've been saying for two years now, Florida is crazy talented. They have a team that is absolutely capable of hitting that 198 mark given the scoring this year. What remains to be seen is whether Rhonda's master plan will work and finally get them showing their best gymnastics at championships. Of possible issue is Mackenzie Caquatto's status. Do they need to get her on more events? Is there time?
As for live blogs, I'll be providing various nonsense about Stanford/Utah, a meet where both teams could really use a big score. Stanford has to work on moving up into the top 12 (a mid-196 or more should help the cause), and Utah has to mentally recover from some low scores away. Momentum is no longer on their side.
I'll also be following UCLA's meet against Arizona State on Sunday. UCLA has lineup spots up for grabs and needs to get out of the 9.7 territory in the first and second spots. Peszek and Larson's statuses (and Val's selection of hairstyle) will be key.
Pitt is going to Kentucky...you also have them listed at NC State
ReplyDeleteThanks for the catch.
ReplyDeleteFlorida's beam situation is interesting. They've used the same lineup all season, and they have been rock solid there. On one hand, it's always risky when you use the same lineup on an event, any event but especially beam, all season. What happens if there is an injury or someone gets injured? UF has no one else with competition experience this season, so logic says to get Macko in there. She exhibitioned last week and can score higher than probably everyone in the lineup other than maybe King.
ReplyDeleteHowever, they have 3 meets left, and by this time in the season, the team, especially on the lineup, needs to start getting into a rhythm and gelling. Once Florida missed on beam at Arkansas around this same time last year, they never recovered on that event. The whole beam team seemed to be out of sync from that point forward. So, there is also the dilemma of leaving a lineup that has hit all year alone or subbing someone who can score higher in, and potentially having issues. Very interesting situation.