Alabama's Grueling 2014 Schedule

Alabama's Grueling 2014 Schedule

Sep 7, 2013 by Jennifer Teitell
Alabama's Grueling 2014 Schedule

(c) Alabama Gymnastics


The Crimson Tide gymnastics team will open and close both the 2014 regular and championship seasons in the state of Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson announced this week, introducing a schedule that includes six home meets and eight within the state.


Both the Southeastern Conference and NCAA Championships will be held at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex. It will mark the fifth time that the national championships have been held in Alabama and it will be the first time that Birmingham has served as the host city. Birmingham has hosted five SEC Championships prior to this season, including the 2011 championship where the Tide won its seventh league title.

 
“Birmingham is a wonderful site for these championships,” Patterson said. “I think it’s a great location for our fans and fans of gymnastics in general. We’re very excited to once again have championship gymnastics in our backyard.”




During the regular season, Alabama, which finished third in the nation last season, will face four of the remaining five teams from last year’s NCAA Super Six Team Finals, including No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 5 LSU and No. 6 Georgia.

 
“This is what I’ve come to think of as a typical Alabama schedule – exciting and very challenging,” Patterson said. “We will face a majority of the best teams in the nation at home and on the road. It’s definitely a schedule that our fans will love and one that will without a doubt prepare us for the championship season.”


The Tide opens its regular season in Coleman Coliseum with SEC newcomer Missouri on Friday, Jan. 10 before closing out the year with a trio of home meets including defending NCAA Champion Florida, national powerhouse Stanford and in-state rival Auburn. In between, Alabama will host SEC powers Arkansas and Georgia.


Alabama’s Jan. 24 meet against the Razorbacks will be the Tide’s 10th annual Power of Pink meet, part of the program’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer.


The Tide’s road-slate opens in territory that is familiar to SEC fans but uncommon to SEC gymnastics. Alabama will meet Kentucky and Nebraska in a tri-meet in Knoxville, Tenn.



 
Patterson and company will also travel to LSU and Auburn, before closing out the regular-season road schedule in Oklahoma City against Oklahoma, West Virginia and Michigan on the podium in a championship style meet.


While the Tide’s postseason will open and close in Birmingham, the NCAA Regional Championships could take Alabama to any of six sites ranging anywhere from Athens, Ga. to Seattle, Wa., depending on where UA is seeded following the SEC Championships.

 


Alabama gymnastics

 

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