AUBURN, Ala. – What happened in Vegas didn't stay there this time.
After earning a 196.6 last Saturday in the Super 16 Gymnastics Championships, the second-highest opening night score in program history, Auburn climbed six spots in the rankings to No. 11.
"What I took out of Las Vegas and what I'm excited to see at Kentucky is new people in new positions, or old people in new positions, and trying to see how they rise to the occasion and what they can do for their team," Auburn coach Jeff Graba said.
Six days after competing against three top 10 teams in Las Vegas, Auburn competes Friday in its home opener against No. 9 Kentucky before welcoming preseason No. 2 Florida to the Plains the following Friday on Jan. 19.
"I think it'll be a really good test," Graba said. "We're just excited to get in Neville Arena. This is what they all signed up for. You can taste the excitement in our practice facility. I love the fact that we have top 10 teams coming. My goal is to beat them in the end of the year."
To achieve that goal, Graba says, Auburn will need to eventually score in the mid to upper 197s, be healthy and adjust routines based on judges' feedback, to try to squeeze every possible tenth from each routine.
"There's a whole bunch of stuff that has to happen that we didn't have to do for two years," he said. "I love it. You're not going to get any easy matchups in the SEC."
Auburn gymnastics fans will see a blend of newcomers and seasoned returners in different lineup spots than in previous seasons.
"I want them to come get to know us," Graba said. "There is a lot of new on this team. We have a lot of people back who they know, but they're going to be doing new things in new positions. It will be exciting and it's a work in progress.
"We're pretty good. We're ranked No. 11 for a reason. However, my goal is that we're in the mix near the end of the season."
In the past two seasons, with gymnasts like Suni Lee and Derrian Gobourne on the roster, Auburn's lineups were set early on. That's not the case in 2024.
"We've made the (NCAA) finals both ways," Graba said. "We made the finals in 2015 where we were not a finished product in January and we've made the finals in 2022 where we were a finished product in January."
That's why Graba and the Tigers will use the early meets to experiment with lineups to see who's ready for the bright lights and Friday Night Heights.
"In January we're throwing caution to the wind and we're going to give opportunities," he said. "In February we need to become a little bit more predictable, and in March, it's set. We need to be extremely comfortable in March that these are our people."
Competition for lineup spots, says Graba, keeps everyone sharp in the gym.
"We tell the girls all the time it should be difficult to select lineups," he said. "If it's not difficult to select lineups, the edge goes off. That means it's too predictable. We're at a point right now where everybody's pushing a little bit. I just want to keep the edge on through February into March.
"I hope the fans show up, bring the excitement, give us an edge and get to know the team because this is going to be a fun team to follow."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
