Title Time! NCAA Championship On The Line For LSU

For the second time in as many years, the LSU Tigers will compete for a National Championship in collegiate gymnastics. At 6pm Central Time, the curtain will fall on 6 teams fighting for one dream - to be called the best.

The Tigers' road to the Super Six was not without difficulty. In yesterday's early preliminary session, LSU began on the balance beam and quickly dug themselves a deep hole - one that ordinarily would've been too deep. But behind one of the most remarkable comebacks in LSU history, the Tigers clawed their way through floor exercise, vault, and bars - hitting 49.150 or better on each - to claim one of six spots in today's winner-take-all final.

LSU had the lowest team score in a team event (48.525 beam) during their session, the second highest team score (49.450 vault), and were the only team in the afternoon to count a fall (beam). But whent the dust settled, the Tigers are one of 5 SEC teams in the Super Six.

.075 - The Distance Between Joy And Pain

In the afternoon session, LSU edged out fourth-place finisher Stanford by .075. That's seventy-five one-thousandths of a point. In the evening session, UCLA and Utah ended the meet tied down to the one-thousandth. So, in keeping with NCAA rules, the 6th competitor's score (normally discarded), was added into the mix to decide which team would advance to the Super Six. The final score: Utah by .075.

The 2009 Super Six Lineup - Looks At Lot The SEC

LSU Tigers
Alabama Crimson Tide
Arkansas GymBacks
Florida Gators
Georgia GymDogs
Utah Utes

Tiger Bites From Lincoln

- A friendly Utah fan with an "I Hate The SEC" T-shirt on accosted the Tigers in the team hotel this afteroon. After several pictures and friendly jabs, the man walked off to join his fellow Red Rocks supporters.

- D-D Breaux, normally among the most jittery of Tigers before any meet, was so calm and collected this afteroon that she nearly missed the team bus from the hotel to the arena. Good natured jabs from the team greeted her aboard the bus as she arrived.

- CBS play-by-play man Tim Brando, in Lincoln to broacast the Super Six, told me last night that, considering the magnitude of the situation, he considered the LSU comeback yesterday among the best-ever in collegiate sports. CBS will air today's National Championship on May 9 at 1pm.