No. 2 Florida Gymnastics Aims to Bounce Back Against No. 12 Auburn

The two remaining undefeated SEC gymnastics teams will meet tonight in the 13th annual Gators Link to Pink meet. The Gators Link to Pink meet is a yearly meet with events that promote breast cancer awareness and treatment.

No. 2 Florida (3-1, 3-0 SEC) returns home tonight after a tough loss last week against No. 1 Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Auburn (5-0, 4-0 SEC) looks to add on to their five-game winning streak.

Can Florida Re-visit the Win Column?

Emerging from the first loss of their season will be an unusual adjustment. Even so, Florida still has the home-field advantage and plenty of fire. The efforts toward a season-high score of 198.025 was well-recognized this week, with Florida earning two SEC awards: sophomore Alyssa Baumann earned SEC Specialist Gymnast of the Week, while freshman Trinity Thomas nabbed her third SEC Freshman of the Week honor.

🐊 @Gym_Trin claims her 3⃣rd @SEC Freshman Gymnast of Week honor after leading the nation's freshmen last weekend with her all-around total of 39.625!

Congrats! 👏

Read more:https://t.co/5ivWiL7OIp#WeChomp#GoGators pic.twitter.com/h6Flzc4nQI

— Gators Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) February 5, 2019

The Gators enter the meet in an advantageous position in terms of events, but the lingering weakness in vault may present an issue. The Gators rank No. 10 in the entire country, while Auburn sits one spot ahead at No. 9. But stellar performances on every other event, specifically beam and bars, have carried them to the No. 2 position nationally.

Auburn brings a strong force of their own. They’ve had some powerful SEC wins week in, week out, beating No. 4 LSU, No. 10 Missouri and No. 6 Georgia. They’ve proven to be rather capable on bars, with top scores of 9.925o coming from Samantha Cerio and Abby Milliet.

Milliet is also among the strongest in beam and floor rotations. Given Auburn implements her in its lineups, she could pose a very real scoring threat.

Aside from Auburn’s winning streak, Florida has a streak of their own at play. The Gators are on top in the series against Auburn with a dominating all-time 70-10 record. Auburn hasn’t won an away meet in Gainesville since 2004.

Catch the Action

The Link to Pink meet starts at 6:45 p.m. in the Exactech Arena at the Stephen O’Connell Center, and will air live on the SEC Network at 7 p.m. EST.