No. 24 @MizzouGym Hosts Pink Out Friday Against No. 10 Arkansas

Friday, January 19

Columbia, Mo.

6:45 p.m. CT

University of Missouri

#10 Arkansas

No. 24 @MizzouGym Hosts Pink Out Friday Against No. 10 Arkansas

1/18/2018 4:13:00 PM | Gymnastics

The No. 24 Missouri gymnastics team opens the home portion of its schedule when the team hosts No. 10 Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 19 at 6:45 p.m. CT in the annual Pink Out. The first 300 fans will receive free pink Missouri gymnastics sunglasses, while the first 250 fans will receive the first of four collectible posters. Additionally, Mizzou gymnastics apparel, including leotards, will be for sale on the concourse during the meet, with proceeds going toward the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. The meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network +.

MEET WEEK - NO. 24 MIZZOU VS. NO. 10 ARKANSAS
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH
No. 10 Arkansas	Hearnes Center	Jan. 19	6:45 p.m. CT	SEC Network +
NOTES: Meet Notes

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 24 Missouri gymnastics team opens the home portion of its schedule when the team hosts No. 10 Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 19 at 6:45 p.m. CT in the annual Pink Out. The first 300 fans will receive free pink Missouri gymnastics sunglasses, while the first 250 fans will receive the first of four collectible posters. Additionally, Mizzou gymnastics apparel, including leotards, will be for sale on the concourse during the meet, with proceeds going toward the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. The meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network +.

PROMOTIONS - PINK OUT

Mizzou Gymnastics Sunglasses - free to the first 300 fans
Collectible Poster - free to the first 250 fans (first edition of four posters)
Apparel Sale - Mizzou gymnastics apparel sale, with proceeds going toward the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center

TIGER TIDBITS

Mizzou is ranked 24th in this week's national rankings based on their score from the season-opening meet on Jan. 12.
The Razorbacks hold a 12-7 advantage in the all-time series over the Tigers, however Mizzou won both matchups last season
Missouri opened the season at Auburn on Jan. 12, where the home Tigers posted a 196.625-194.875 win over the Mizzou Tigers
Junior Allison Bower claimed a share of the vault title at Auburn, the first event title of her career
Bower's vault at Auburn was actually her first competitive collegiate vault, as she was did not vault her freshman or sophomore seasons
Missouri finished the 2017 season ranked 17th in the final poll, the team's highest final ranking since the squad finished 12th in 2010
The 2018 Tigers return 94.2 percent of routines from a season ago
In fact, Mizzou returns 100 percent of all bars and beam routines from a season ago, and 92.3 percent of all floor routines back and 85.7 percent of all vault routines back
Mizzou's 2018 slate is ranked the fifth-toughest in the country entering the season, behind only SEC foes Georgia, Arkansas and Alabama
The 2018 regular season features 12 matchups with 10 teams ranked in the preason top 25, including meets against No. 2 Florida, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Alabama, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 14 Auburn, No. 16 Georgia, No. 19 Arkansas, No. 20 Iowa, No. 21 Georgia Washington and No. 23 Illinois. The Tigers actually take on LSU and Arkansas twice during the regular season
Head Coach Shannon Welker enters his fifth season at the helm of the Tiger program. In his first four years in Columbia, Welker has Mizzou back in the national spotlight. In 2017, the Tigers finished 17th in the national ranking. The 2017 season also saw Mizzou go 3-4 in Southeastern Conference dual meet action, with wins over No. 12 Arkansas, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 18 Auburn. The Tigers entered the season with just one SEC dual win in program history. Additionally, Missouri recorded the third and fourth-highest scores in program history in 2017, with a 197.200 against Auburn and a 197.150 one week later against Kentucky.

LAST TIME OUT

The Missouri gymnastics team opened the 2018 season with a 196.625-194.875 loss at No. 23 Auburn on Jan. 12
The Tigers posted team event totals of 48.950 on vault and bars, 48.800 on floor and 48.175 on beam
Junior Allison Bower tied for the vault crown with a career-high 9.875 in her first-ever collegiate vault
Sophomore Aspen Tucker took home the all-around title with a score of 38.950
On floor, sophomore Mary Nicholson tied for second with a career-best 9.850. It marked the first competitive routine of Nicholson's career
Junior Brooke Kelly also took second on beam with a 9.850, while junior Madeleine Huber tied for third on bars with a 9.850 as well

UP NEXT

The Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a 7:30 p.m. CT meet against No. 10 Alabama on Friday, Jan. 26.

MISSOURI RANKED 24TH IN LATEST NATIONAL POLL

The Tigers clock in at No. 24 in this week's national poll
Rankings are determined by average score for the first six weeks of the season (before moving to Regional Qualifying Score in late February)
Additionally, the team is ranked 13th on vault (48.950) and 14th on bars (48.950)
Missouri was 17th in the preseason coaches poll, announced on Dec. 11
That was the highest preseason ranking for the Tigers since prior to the 2011 season, when they were chosen 13th

MIZZOU OWNS NATION'S FIFTH-TOUGHEST SCHEDULE

Heading into the season, the Tigers' schedule is rated the fifth-toughest in the nation
The strength of schedule was calculated by reverse assigning points to each team based on their final 2017 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
The 2018 regular season features 12 matchups with 10 teams ranked in the preason top 25, including meets against No. 2 Florida, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Alabama, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 14 Auburn, No. 16 Georgia, No. 19 Arkansas, No. 20 Iowa, No. 21 Georgia Washington and No. 23 Illinois.
The Tigers actually take on LSU and Arkansas twice during the regular season
Missouri's schedule ranks behind only Southeaastern Conference foes Georgia, Arkansas and Alabama

BOWER CLAIMS FIRST CAREER EVENT TITLE

Junior Allison Bower made the most of her first collegiate vault on Jan. 12 - she tied for the vault title
Competing on vault for the first time as a Missouri Tiger, Bower posted a team and career-high 9.875 on the event to tie Auburn's Gracie Day for first-place
The event crown was also the first of collegiate career
Bower competed on floor, beam and bars her first two years as a Tiger, with career highs of 9.900, 9.850 and 9.825, respectively

LOOKING AT THE OPPONENT...ARKANSAS

Arkansas enters this weekend ranked 10th nationally
The Razorbacks scored a season-high 196.525 against Kentucky last week and went 195.350 in the season opener at LSU
The squad ranks fourth nationally on beam, with a team average of 49.200 on the event, while also ranking eighth (49.050) on vault
Head Coach Mark Cook is in his 17th season at the helm of the Arkansas program