Gymnastics projected to compete in Ann Arbor Regional

CW / Hannah Saad

James Ogletree, Staff Writer

With its regular season and conference championship meet completed, Alabama gymnastics has made the final additions to its resume for regional competition.

The top 16 teams in National Qualifying Score (NQS) are pre-seeded into the four regional meets. The regional meets are similar to the sections of the bracket for March Madness. Nos. 1, 8, 9 and 16 are in one regional; Nos. 2, 7, 10 and 15 in another; Nos. 3, 6, 11 and 14 in another; and Nos. 4, 5, 12 and 13 in the remaining one.

The four regional hosts – LSU, Michigan, Georgia and Oregon State – are guaranteed to compete at home, so that determines where the teams paired with them will compete.

Alabama is seeded 10th, so it is slated to compete in Ann Arbor against No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Michigan and No. 15 California. The Ann Arbor Regional will also include five teams seeded between 17th and 36th that will be placed geographically.

The other regional slots already determined are as follows: No. 8 Georgia will host No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 9 Kentucky and No. 13 Auburn in Athens. No. 3 LSU welcomes No. 6 Utah, No. 11 Minnesota and No. 14 Nebraska to Baton Rouge. No. 16 Oregon State competes at home in Corvallis against No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Denver and No. 12 Boise State. Each regional will include five more teams between the No. 17 and No. 36 teams to fill out their nine-team fields.

Alabama’s next competition will be on April 5 in the second round of the regional meet. The opening round of each regional on April 4 functions as a play-in to trim the field from nine to eight for the following round.