The situation was the same for the Gators almost exactly a year ago Friday.
Last season, then-No. 3 Florida was undefeated in SEC play with two meets left in the regular season and were welcoming then-No. 7 Georgia on Feb. 22, 2019.
A win would have clinched the SEC regular season title.
But it didn’t happen.
UF lost to the Bulldogs 197.45-197.375 and suffered its only SEC loss of the season.
The SEC regular season title was clinched the following week against Arkansas, but the loss prevented the Gators from being the No. 1 seed in the 2019 SEC Tournament and lowered their seeding the NCAA Tournament.
This time around, things were different. No. 2 Florida hosted No. 8 Alabama on Friday night. A win would clinch the conference title. UF came out ready and outclassed the Crimson Tide, putting up its second highest score of the season in a 198.05-197.45 win.
Coach Jenny Rowland said following the win that a different approach was taken leading into this meet.
“We didn’t really talk about it last season,” she said. “This season, I laid it all out on the table, this is an opportunity, what are we going to do with it?”
Despite being SEC regular season champs, the Gators (8-0, 6-0 SEC) face one of their biggest challenges of the season: Circumventing a meltdown in the final three meets of the 2020 season.
The first test will be this Friday night against No. 11 Georgia, the same team that ruined their title hopes last season.
This Georgia team (8-5, 2-3 SEC) isn’t as talented as the one that came into the O’Dome last season, but it did beat No. 12 Kentucky this week on the road and is jumping at the opportunity to put a dent in its rival’s magical season again.
“We’ve all been to Georgia before and we know it’s an intense atmosphere there,” senior Amelia Hundley said. “But I think we’re ready for it, especially coming off of this.”
One gymnast who won’t lack motivation will be junior Alyssa Baumann, whose sister — Rachel — competes for the Bulldogs.
“I’m going to have a bunch of family there, and it’ll be really cool to watch her compete again and hopefully beat her again,” Baumann said.
A loss to the Bulldogs probably won’t change anything for seeding in the SEC Tournament, since Florida has a two-game lead on every other SEC school.
However, a loss to Georgia — or any other remaining opponents — could impact NCAA Tournament seeding.
After their visit to Athens, the Gators travel to State College, Pennsylvania, to take on Penn State on March 7.
There, Florida star Trinity Thomas is sure to have an entourage watching her. The sophomore is from York, Pennsylvania, a little over 100 miles from PSU’s campus.
UF will close the season against Texas Woman’s University at home on March 13.
That meet will be on senior night, where UF’s four seniors — Rachel Gowey, Sierra Alexander, Maegan Chant and Hundley — will be playing in their final home meet.
One thing working in the Gators’ favor is the Nittany Lions and Pioneers are not ranked in the Road to Nationals Top 25, their first opponents all season long not ranked at the time of their meet.
“It will be easy to get back into the gym on Sunday to prepare for our next opportunity,” Rowland said. “We are taking it day-by-day and trying to get better each day.”
Follow Noah on Twitter @Noah_ram1 and contact him at nram@alligator.org.
Trinity Thomas.
Noah is a third year journalism-sports and media student from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has been with The Alligator since Spring 2019 and has covered men’s and women’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. When he isn’t on his beat, Noah is usually sadden over his beloved South Florida sports teams, such as the Heat and Dolphins.
