With a big storm hitting the east coast this weekend, it’s the perfect time to settle in with some hot cocoa and kick back with gymnastics. Some meets are bound to be canceled or postponed, but this is a time we can be thankful the majority of meets happen in the southern or western parts of the U.S.

Friday night is a big SEC night as usual, with four conference battles all beginning at 8 or 8:30 p.m. The closest battle will likely be between No. 4 Alabama and No. 10 Arkansas, though Bama definitely has a huge edge, as they’ve been super consistent thus far and with hit sets at home, could come through with a huge score.

No. 1 Florida will travel to No. 8 Auburn for what should be an easy win for the Gators, and No. 9 Georgia travels to No. 14 Missouri with the upper hand, though they could throw it away if they count three falls on beam like they did at home last weekend. The same goes for No. 7 LSU hosting No. 20 Kentucky; while the Lady Tigers had a major advantage over the Wildcats and could outscore them by close to two points if everyone hits, they too felt the curse of the beam last weekend, thus their dramatic drop in the rankings.

Another fun conference battle on Friday comes from No. 3 Michigan at No. 17 Illinois. Michigan has been silent but deadly in their first three meets, looking consistent as heck and not letting one fall drag down their team score. The Wolverines have scored around a 196.9 in all three meets thus far, so hopefully this weekend we can see them break that 197 barrier.

No. 2 Oklahoma got two solid meets out of the way last weekend. They’re back in Norman this Friday hosting No. 35 Iowa State and No. 48 Arizona State, making it an easy win for the Sooners so their goal will be to fine-tune some of the areas where they’ve been seeing deductions if they want to overtake the top spot in the rankings from Florida.

On Saturday, we start off with a conference battle between No. 5 UCLA and No. 29 Arizona in Tucson. It’s been incredible seeing the Bruins kill it in 2016 after several long lackluster years, especially on floor where they’re currently holding the best average of the season thanks to nonstop energetic and solid performance levels no other team has been able to match.

Another Pac-12 rivalry begins when this meet finishes, with No. 6 Utah hosting No. 11 Oregon State. Utah has been looking phenomenal on bars this season, but floor has been surprisingly tough for the young team, so we’ll see if they can finally bring it at home.

We’re newly-obsessed with EAGL standouts No. 12 George Washington and No. 15 New Hampshire, both of which travel to conference foe No. 54 Pittsburgh on Saturday…if the snow doesn’t hold them back. GWU is performing better than many top teams on pretty much everything but vault, while UNH currently boasts the third place ranking in the country on beam thanks to the magic they’re working there. This is definitely a highlight of the weekend, so keep an eye out for some traditionally under-appreciated teams to do some fantastic work. No. 59 Temple of the ECAC will also compete.

Also on Saturday is No. 16 Denver hosting No. 40 Washington, No. 18 Nebraska hosting No. 51 Rutgers, No. 19 Minnesota hosting No. 44 Michigan State, and No. 25 Ohio State traveling to No. 37 Iowa.

Sunday is a pretty low-key day with some good DIII meets in the early afternoon, though with many of these teams located on the east coast, snow could affect their meets if travel is made difficult. Later in the day, there’s a good Big Ten battle between No. 30 Penn State and No. 39 Maryland. These teams are typically found in the top 20 or 25, with Penn State landing in the top 15 a good deal over the past five years, so hopefully they can figure out how to get back on track.

Speaking of lower-than-usual rankings, No. 24 Stanford is also way far down the list compared to prior years, though their ranking is currently based only on a single score. They’d jump up about seven spots had Monday’s meet against Georgia factored into the current rankings, and with their home meet this Sunday, have a chance to improve on that yet again. They face off against other Bay Area faves No. 22 Cal and No. 50 San Jose State.

All times listed below are in EST and we’ll update the links to live stats and streams as soon as they become available.

Article by Lauren Hopkins
Photo thanks to the University of Arizona