COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Mizzou gymnastics team will host five home meets in 2016, Head Coach Shannon Welker announced on Friday (Aug. 28). The challenging slate includes matchups with five of last season's Super Six Team Finals competitors and two additional programs that competed at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
The Tigers will look to build upon a stellar 2015 where the squad was the nation's most improved program. The team finished 2015 ranked 21st in the nation, a full 20-spot jump from the previous season, while also returning to NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2012.
Mizzou's home schedule features three-time defending national champion Florida, as well as Southeastern Conference foes Georgia and Arkansas and non-conference opponents Illinois, Lindenwood and SEMO.
All home meets will begin at 7 p.m. CT in 2016, although start times for Southeastern Conference competitions are liable to change for television. The SEC and ESPN will announce the official television schedule at a later date.
After the Black & Gold exhibition on Friday, Dec. 11, Mizzou officially opens the 2016 schedule against at home on Friday, Jan. 8 against Illinois in the return of Beauty and the Beast.
Just two days later on Sunday, Jan. 10, the Tigers have a quick turnaround with a meet at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo. A road meet at Alabama follows, with the Tigers and Crimson Tide matching up on Friday, Jan. 17 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Alabama placed fourth at the NCAA Championships Team Finals
On Friday, Jan. 24, Mizzou welcomes 2015 NCAA Championships participant Georgia to Columbia., Mo., for the annual Pink Out meet.
A trip to Fort Worth, Texas, pits the Tigers against some of the nation's top programs at the 2016 Metroplex Challenge. Competed on a podium to mimic the national championships, the Metroplex Challenge features Mizzou, LSU, Oklahoma, Stanford and Washington. The event, which will serve as Missouri's conference matchup with LSU, also features two Super Six squads from a year ago (Oklahoma and Stanford).
On Friday, Feb. 5, Lindenwood and SEMO come to town for the State of Missouri Meet.
Three SEC meets carry the Tigers into late February. Road competitions at Kentucky (Friday, Feb. 12) and Auburn (Friday, Feb. 26) sandwich a home contest against with three-time defending national champion Florida on Friday, Feb. 19.
The Tigers celebrate Senior Night on Friday, March 4 as the team hosts Arkansas. Mizzou then closes out the regular season on in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Friday, March 11 against the Western Michigan Broncos.
The 2016 SEC Gymnastics Championship will be held on Saturday, March 19 at Verizon Arena in Little Rock, Ark. Two weeks later on April 2, the NCAA Regionals will take place as six predetermined sites, before the 2016 NCAA Championships, April 15-17 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Season tickets can be purchased from the Missouri Athletic Ticket Office by calling 884-PAWS locally or 1-800-CAT-PAWS.