Gymbacks Announce Loaded 2017 Schedule
2017 Schedule | 2017 SEC TV schedule
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas gymnastics team released their 2017 schedule on Wednesday, highlighted by five regular-season home meets and an NCAA Regional at Barnhill Arena. “The Greatest Show in Town” will welcome Missouri, Alabama, LSU and Florida, as part of a challenging schedule that includes meets against seven SEC members and marquee non-conference road meets at UCLA and Michigan State.
“Our 2017 schedule will be both challenging and exciting,” head coach Mark Cook said. “Going against many of the top programs in the country will prepare us for the SEC Championship and the postseason. Setting the tone will begin with our first meet at UCLA on January 7. We need to compete strong at that first meet and then gain momentum as the season progresses.”
Arkansas will test itself early with a road meet at six-time national champion UCLA on Jan. 7, the first of five teams on the 2017 schedule that reached the Super Six this past season. It’s the first time that the Razorbacks will have traveled to Los Angeles since advancing to the NCAA National Semifinals in 2013. The Razorbacks will then return to Barnhill Arena for their first home meet of the season and also their first SEC meet of the season against Missouri on Jan. 13.
The SEC opener against Missouri marks the first of six straight weeks against SEC competition, with home meets against Alabama (Jan. 27), LSU (Feb. 10) and Florida (Feb. 17), all participants in the Super Six this past season, and road meets at Georgia (Jan. 20), another Super Six participant in 2016, and Auburn (Feb. 3).
The Gymbacks’ meets against Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Florida will each be broadcast either live or on tape delay. The home meets against Alabama, LSU and Florida will be on SEC Network. The Georgia meet will be on SEC Network and will also re-air on ESPN2, while the Auburn meet will be on SEC Network+ and tape delay on ESPNU.
The Razorbacks will step out of conference for a road trip to Michigan State on Feb. 25. It will be only the second all-time meeting between the two teams and the program’s first trip to East Lansing. Arkansas will close out its SEC schedule on the road at Kentucky on March 3, before returning home for a home tri-meet against San Jose State and Centenary on March 10 that will serve as Arkansas’ Senior Night.
The 2017 SEC Championships will be held in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 18, and it will be carried live on ESPNU and the SEC Network with a re-air on ESPN2. At the 2016 SEC Championships in Little Rock, Arkansas posted its best ever score in an SEC Championship, placing sixth overall with a score of 196.500.
Next up would be the NCAA Regionals on April 1, and Arkansas will be hosting for the first time since 2014 and for the fifth time in program history. Last season, Arkansas placed third at the Iowa City, Iowa, Regional with a score of 195.500.
The NCAA Championships will take place in St. Louis from April 14-16 at Chaifetz Arena.
For more information on Arkansas gymnastics, follow @RazorbackGym on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
