AUBURN, Ala. – Call it Friday Afternoon Heights.
Accustomed to Friday Night Heights and competing on SEC Network, No. 12 Auburn and No. 7 Florida lead off the SECN's gymnastics coverage with a 5 p.m. CT meet Friday at Neville Arena, requiring schedule adjustments from coaches and gymnasts.
"I don't think I've had a home meet this early since I've been here," said Cassie Stevens, in her fifth season on the Plains. "We're in classes in the morning. It's the same routine, definitely a lot earlier, maybe a bit more stressful for people like me."
"It's closer to our practice time," Auburn coach Jeff Graba said. "If I had a choice, the early ones might be better physically than the late ones. However, it's a challenge with school, it's a challenge with our fanbase with work. But it's a premier opponent. I don't think we're going to have a problem filling the stands even at 5 o'clock."
After scoring 197.025 in their home opener last week, the Tigers take on the defending NCAA runner-up this week.
"It's exciting to have a premier opponent coming to Neville Arena," Graba said. "It's a lot of fun to compete against the best. I don't think you get better if you don't compete against really quality opponents. It'll be a good measuring stick."
After opening the season in a Las Vegas quad meet that featured then-No. 5 UCLA, No. 7 Cal and No. 8 Alabama, Auburn concludes its daunting opening month schedule Jan. 26 at No. 4 Arkansas.
"It is a bit of a gauntlet," Graba said. "You've got to grow, and you've got to grow under pressure. What better way to do that than to meet the best?
"The whole month of January, we get to compare ourselves to teams that are saying they want to win the national championship and are performing at that level. We should walk away from January and go, 'All right, maybe we're not lying to ourselves. Maybe we're actually this good.' Our goal is different than other peoples' in January."
That's because unlike its more seasoned opponents, Auburn welcomed 10 new gymnasts to the team, allowing the Tigers to tinker in January before locking in their preferred lineup next month.
"We are not a finished product at this point but we don't have to race to be finished," Graba said. "We have to take our time and get better, do our due diligence. What I don't want to do is leave anything on the table, so I don't want to rush. Always in a hurry, never in a rush."
Auburn's veterans – upperclassmen such as graduate students Stevens and Aria Brusch, seniors Gabby McLaughlin and Olivia Hollingsworth, and juniors Sophia Groth and Sara Hubbard – are providing leadership and delivering consistent scores.
"Our juniors and seniors are phenomenal," Graba said. "We're in a really good spot. I think we're proving to everybody that we can compete with anybody in the country."
This week, that means an early start against a national powerhouse. A matinee measuring stick for Graba's Gladiators.
"We have to get better this week," Graba said. "I'd like to see if we can get to the final event and have a shot at a team that's trying to win the national championship. By default, that means that we can actually start thinking that way."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
