Hello live from Duluth!
Scoring in the afternoon session is notoriously stingy compared to the evening session, so this afternoon’s teams and gymnasts will need to be at their absolute best if they hope to challenge any of tonight’s competitors.
That said, there is precedent: Missouri won the first session last year, and ultimately finished ahead of second session team LSU.
On paper, 12th-ranked Auburn is the heavy favorite over the rest of the afternoon session teams who are ranked in the lower teens. Rankings and regular season win-loss records matter, of course, but they paint an incomplete picture.
Exhibit A, here’s a look at scores from the past two weeks:
Here’s the average score over the last 2 weeks for @SEC teams:@GatorsGym 197.938@LSUgym 197.863@UKGymnastics 197.738@MizzouGym 197.163@RazorbackGym 197.025@AuburnGym 197.025@BamaGymnastics 196.938@UGAGymnastics 196.888
— Drew Porche (@TalentStats) March 16, 2023
Missouri has been on a hot streak, while Auburn has lost a bit of momentum, averaging just 196.500 at its two most recent away meets (a full point lower than its most recent home meets). Further complicating things for Auburn is the apparent loss of its star sophomore Sunisa Lee. Similarly, Arkansas is in a state of flux after the…
