No. 7 Alabama Set to Close Regular Season against Top-Ranked Oklahoma

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 7 Alabama gymnastics team will travel to Norman, Okla., to face the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners (24-0, 4-0 Big 12) in Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday for its final meet of the regular season. The Crimson Tide's sixth meet featuring a top-five ranked opponent will begin at 3 p.m. CT and will air on ESPN2.

Sunday's competition will be the 11^th contest for Alabama (12-3-1, 3-3-1 SEC) this season as the Crimson Tide is coming off its third quad-meet victory after capturing its second 198 team score in the last three weeks. Individually, Luisa Blanco highlighted the night, capturing two perfect 10.0 scores on vault and floor exercise – her first career 10 on both events to up her total to six career perfect scores.

Need-To-Knows for Attending the Meet

Fans attending the meet at Lloyd Noble Center can purchase tickets online
- General Admission/Faculty/Staff/Letterwinners GA: $7
- Youth and Senior Citizens: $5
- Children five and under: free
OU Athletics' clear bag policy will be in effect and walk-through metal detectors will be utilized
- Fans can visit online for further Meet Day information

Head Coach Ashley Johnston Said

"It will be important for us to build off the energy and confidence from last week as we go into Oklahoma to face the top team in the country. They have been routinely consistent and are a great program, so we're looking forward to the challenge of competing against the best of the best in order to help prepare us for SECs, Regionals and the National Championship."

Sunday's Meet

Alabama is led by Ashley Johnston, in her second season as UA's head coach, while K.J. Kindler is in her 17^th season at the helm of the Sooners
The Tide and the Sooners last competed against each other in Feb. 2023 at the Metroplex Challenge where Oklahoma captured a first-place finish (198.125) with Alabama closing the quad meet with a 198.000 score
The Crimson Tide and the Sooners will meet for the final time as nonconference opponents on Sunday, as Oklahoma will join the Southeastern Conference July 1 of this year
Alabama and Oklahoma hold a total of 29 conference titles (10 SEC titles for the Tide, 19 Big 12 titles for the Sooners) between them, as well as 12 total NCAA championships – six apiece

Last Time Out

Luisa Blanco became the first UA gymnast in 19 years to register multiple Perfect 10s on the same night (vault, floor exercise)
Blanco now joins legendary UA gymnast Dee Foster as the only two gymnasts in program history to capture at least one perfect 10.0 score on three of the four events during their career at Alabama
Six gymnasts posted a total of 12 9.900-or-higher scores across the four events, with three gymnasts capturing multiple 9.900s-or-higher
Five gymnasts posted at least a 9.900 on the floor exercise as Alabama steamrolled to a 49.725 marking – its second-highest score on the apparatus in program history

The Tide in the Rankings

Alabama ranks third, nationally, on the uneven bars, with a NQS of 49.530, while simultaneously posting top-six rankings on all four events within the Southeastern Conference (No. 1 – UB; No. 4 – VT; No. 5 – BB; No. 6 – FX)
Individually, Luisa Blanco holds top-20 national rankings on vault (6^th – 9.925 NQS), all-around (12^th – 39.630 NQS), uneven bars (14^th – 9.930 NQS) and balance beam (19^th – 9.915 NQS)
Joining Blanco (sixth) in the conference uneven bars rankings is Cameron Machado (seventh) and Chloe LaCoursiere (ninth) to put three Alabama gymnasts in the top 10

Up Next

Alabama will travel to New Orleans, La., to compete in the SEC Championships on Saturday, March 23
The competition will be aired on SEC Network

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