The Tigers are traveling to Gainesville, FL to take on the Gators who are coming off road loss to Arkansas. Just before the meet at Arkansas, the Gators defeated the No. 4 Utah Utes in a nail biter.
Florida has had an impressive season thus far, beating four ranked top-25 opponents. Despite this, they are 1-2 in the SEC, though it has proved to be a stacked conference with nine teams in the top 15 rankings. The Gators will be looking to bounce back from their tough loss trying to continue their imposing resume of beating ranked teams.
An important thing to note is the history between the Tigers and the Gators, where Florida has a rather dominant history against Auburn. The Gators are on an eight-game winning streak over the years, last defeating Auburn 197.3-196.775. The Tigers last defeated the Gators back in March of 2004, so this meet will end a long drought that Auburn yearns to terminate.
The Gators are also 4-0 at home this season, where they have had their highest scoring game this season against Georgia. They are one of the toughest teams to beat on the road currently.
With all that being said, the odds are against the Tigers, but they are coming off a great close win against No. 11 Georgia and are seeking to ride that momentum on the road.
Great all-around performances from Sophia Groth and Paige Zancan helped secure the victory at home for Auburn. They both finished with 29.7 and 29.6 points respectively and were second and third in the contest overall.
Another big part of the win against the Bulldogs was Auburn’s performance on the floor exercise. Groth and Sophia Bell led the charge with 9.95 points and 9.925 points. Zancan and Olivia Greaves were with them, both with scores of 9.9.
Auburn is 0-1 on the road this season, but 6-1 in neutral sites. The Tigers are going to need to continue their improvement on the floor and the vault events when they play a tough home team to have a good chance.
The Gators rank top 10 in every event where they are ranked No. 2 in vault, No. 2 on bars, No. 7 on beam and No. 9 on floor. The Gators average the third highest points in the country and have had the highest score of the top -5 teams in the country.
Leane Wong leads the team in all-around score, with an average score of 39.540. Falling closely behind are Anya Pilgrim and Selena Harris-Miranda both with averages scores of 39.325 points.
Florida has been extremely consistent in every event, but its performance on bars against Arkansas was its main weakness. Look for Auburn to keep it close on bars as that event could be crucial to winning the meet.
The Tigers will travel to Gainesville, Florida on Friday, Feb. 14. The meet will start at 7:30 p.m. CST and will be streamed on SECN+.
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Tyler Cox is a sophomore from Atlanta majoring in journalism. He joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
