🤸No. 2 LSU Gymnastics Hosts No. 3 Alabama in Friday Night Heights Showdown With SEC Title Implications

Tigers ride 18-meet home win streak into top-three clash at the PMAC as Kailin Chio continues historic 2026 campaign.

📍BATON ROUGE, La. | Heavyweight SEC Battle Under the Lights

It doesn’t get bigger than this in February.

No. 2 LSU Tigers women's gymnastics (6-2-1, 3-2 SEC) returns to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Friday night for a top-three showdown against No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide women's gymnastics (5-2, 3-2 SEC) in what shapes up as one of the marquee meets of the 2026 college gymnastics season.

The clash, airing nationally on the SEC Network at 8:30 p.m. CT, features two programs ranked inside the top five on every event — and two legitimate national title contenders looking to sharpen their postseason résumé.

🔥 LSU Defends the PMAC Fortress

LSU enters the meet riding an 18-meet home win streak, having not dropped a meet in Baton Rouge since January 16, 2023. The Tigers are aiming to extend that dominance to 19 straight in front of what is expected to be another electric Friday Night Heights crowd.

Historically, Alabama leads the all-time series 102-33-2, but LSU claimed the most recent regular-season dual meet in 2025 — a road victory that signaled the Tigers’ continued ascent among the sport’s elite.

Friday’s meet also serves as Alumni Night, adding another layer of energy and tradition inside the PMAC.

⭐ Kailin Chio’s Historic Run Continues

The story of LSU’s 2026 campaign begins with sophomore star Kailin Chio — and it’s becoming one for the record books.

Chio enters the meet ranked:

• No. 1 nationally on vault
• No. 1 nationally on beam (fifth straight week)
• No. 2 in the all-around (39.685 NQS)

She is coming off a jaw-dropping performance against No. 1 Oklahoma, where she delivered two perfect 10.000 scores (vault and beam) and captured four individual titles, pushing her season total to 22 and her career total to 45.

Her 39.850 all-around score in Norman marked the highest road all-around score in program history.

Chio has now earned four SEC Gymnast of the Week honors in 2026, bringing her career total to 13 — further cementing her as one of the most dominant performers in collegiate gymnastics.

📊 Rankings & National Picture

According to Road to Nationals:

• LSU ranks No. 2 overall with a 197.735 NQS
• No. 1 on floor (49.490 NQS)
• No. 2 on vault
• No. 3 on bars
• No. 4 on beam

Meanwhile, Alabama enters the week ranked:

• No. 2 on bars
• No. 3 on floor
• No. 6 on beam
• No. 7 on vault

The Crimson Tide is coming off a 197.950 victory at Auburn — its first road win there since 2018 — matching its season high score.

Simply put: this is a postseason-caliber meet in late February.

🏅 What’s at Stake

Beyond SEC bragging rights, Friday’s result could impact:

• National Qualifying Score positioning
• NCAA Regional seeding
• SEC Championship momentum
• Psychological edge entering March

With the SEC widely regarded as the deepest conference in women’s gymnastics, this matchup offers a preview of what could unfold in April.

📅 What’s Next

After Friday night’s showdown, LSU will compete in the Podium Challenge at the Raising Cane’s River Center on March 1, facing Alabama again alongside North Carolina and Arizona in a quad meet format.

But first, Baton Rouge gets the spotlight.

And in a season defined by razor-thin margins and perfect 10s, this top-three clash may prove pivotal.

#LSUGym🐯, #RollTide🤸, #SECGymnastics, #FridayNightHeights🔥, #Perfect10💯, #RoadToNationals, #CollegeGymnastics,

======

-- By Andre Leday

Andréa Mochida contributed to this report

© Copyright 2026 JWT Communications. All rights reserved. This article cannot be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten, or distributed in any form without written permission.