COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 19 Missouri gymnastics team opens the 2017 season on Friday, Jan. 6 when the team hosts No. 24 Illinois and Ball State at the Hearnes Center at 7 p.m. CT. The meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network + with Ben Arnet and Blair Elmore on the call. 

• Missouri owns a 15-7 all-time regular season record against the Fighting Illini, including a 195.350-195.075 win over Illinois in last year's season opener. 
• The Tigers are 5-4 all-time against the Cardinals in the regular season but the two teams have not met since the 2006 Cat Classic, where Mizzou won the meet with a 196.025 and Ball State finished fourth with a score of 187.900.
• The Tigers enter the 2017 campaign ranked 19th in the preseason coaches poll, the same spot it ended the 2016 season. The preseason ranking was the highest for the program since they were chosen 13th prior to the 2011 season. This year's preseason ranking also marks the second year in a row Mizzou was among the top 25 teams in the preseason poll, as the Tigers were selected 23rd prior to the 2016 campaign.
• Mizzou's 2017 slate is ranked the fourth-toughest in the country entering the season, behind only SEC foes Georgia, Auburn and Alabama.
• The 2017 regular season schedule features 12 matchups with 10 teams ranked in the top 25, including meets against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 8 Auburn and No. 9 Georgia. Missouri will take on both LSU and Georgia twice during 2017. Additionally, every single home meet will feature at least one opponent ranked in the preseason top 25.
• Missouri returned every single routine from the 2016 season. Last year, the freshman class led the way with 181 total routines, followed by the sophomore class with 108 and the junior class with 23. 
• Head Coach Shannon Welker enters his fourth season at the helm of the Tiger program. In his first three years in Columbia, Welker has Mizzou back in the national spotlight. In 2016, the Tigers posted their highest NCAA Regional finish (third) since 2010 and finished the season ranked 19th nationally, ahead of Southeastern Conference foes Arkansas and Kentucky. Additionally, Missouri recorded three scores of at least 196.625 or higher during the year in 2016, only the second time Mizzou accomplished that in the 37 year history of the program.

MISSOURI RANKED 19TH IN PRESEASON POLL

• Missouri enters 2017  ranked 19th in the nation in the preseason coaches poll, announced on Dec. 11
• It marks the highest preseason ranking for the Tigers since they were chosen 13th prior to the 2011 season.
• This year's preseason ranking also marks the second year in a row Mizzou was among the top 25 teams in the preseason poll, as the Tigers were selected 23rd prior to the 2016 campaign.

MIZZOU OWNS NATION'S FOURTH-TOUGHEST SCHEDULE

• Heading into the season, the Tigers' schedule is rated the fourth-toughest in the nation
• The strength of schedule was calculated by reverse assigning points to each team based on their final 2016 final ranking (example: No. 1 Oklahoma is worth 82 points, No. 2 LSU 81 points, etc.). Additionally, only the highest-ranked team at each meet is used to assign points for that particular meet
• Mizzou's schedule features 12 matchups with 10 teams ranked in the top 25, including meets against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 8 Auburn and No. 9 Georgia
• Missouri will take on both LSU and Georgia twice during 2017
• Additionally, every single home meet will feature at least one opponent ranked in the preseason top 25.
  Missouri's schedule ranks behind only Southeaastern Conference foes Georgia, Auburn and Alabama 

MISSOURI CONTINUED TO RISE IN 2016

• The Tigers continued impressive improvements in 2016 in Head Coach Shannon Welker's third year with the program
• Top highlights during the season included:
      •    Finished third at the NCAA Minneapolis Regional, the team's highest finish since 2010
      •    Britney Ward earned NACGC/W regular season All-America second team honors on beam, the first Tiger to 
          claim regular season honors, which was first awarded in 2013
      •    Morgan Porter became the first Mizzou gymnast to earn Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year 
          honors
      •    Porter notched one of the top performances in program history on March 4, 2016, when she tallied an 39.675 
          all-around score, which is tied for second on Mizzou's all-time list
      •    Missouri scored a 196.625 at Auburn on Feb. 26, the team's highest away score since 2007
      •    A 195.800-165.350 win over No. 9 Georgia on Jan. 22 was the team's first win over a top-10 opponent since 
          2010 and the team's first-ever SEC dual victory
      •    The Tigers recorded three scores of at least 196.625 in a season for only the second time in the 37-year 
          history of the program
      •    Porter qualified for the NCAA Championships as an all-around competitor and was the first Mizzou gymnast 
          to qualify for NCAAs since 2012

TIGERS RETURN EVERY ROUTINE FROM 2016

• Being one of the nation's youngest team's in the nation a season ago has its benefits, as the Tigers return every single routine from 2016
• Last year, the freshman class led Missouri with a total of 181 routines, or 58 percent of its lineup
• The sophomore class contributed 108 routines (34.6 percent), while the junior class accounted for 23 routines (7 percent)

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENT...ILLINOIS 

• The Fighting Illini are ranked 24th in the preseason coaches poll after finishing 2016 ranked 25th
• Illinois concluded its season with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional with a score of 195.350
• Sophomore Lizzy LeDuc qualified for the NCAA Championships on floor after winning that event title at the NCAA Regional with a score of 9.950
• Head Coach Kim Landrus is in her sixth season at the helm of the Fighting Illini

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENT...BALL STATE

• Ball State enters 2017 with 13 returning letter winners from a season ago
• The Cardinals ended 2016 ranked 44th in the nation with an Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 194.810.
• Four different current Cardinals, seniors Sarah Ebeyer and Kayla Beckler and juniors Jordyn Penny and Baylee Bell, competed at the NCAA Iowa City Regional as individual event qualifiers
• Loanna Saleem is in her fourth season as the head coach of the Cardinals

UP NEXT

• The Tigers hit the road for a pair of away meets next weekend. First, Missouri heads to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to face No. 17 Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. The team then travels to St. Charles, Missouri, on Sunday, Jan. 15 to take on Lindenwood and Southeast Missouri in the State of Missouri meet at 3 p.m.