BTN.com staff, March 26, 2012
All eight Big Ten women?s gymnastics teams have been chosen among the 36-team field to compete at NCAA Regionals on April 7, the selection committee announced on Monday. The Big Ten will be represented at five of the six regional sites.
Nebraska received the top seed in the Salt Lake City Regional after earning its first Big Ten Championship. The Huskers are joined in Salt Lake City by No. 3 seed Minnesota, along with host and No. 2 seed Utah, No. 4 Iowa State, No. 5 Arizona State and No. 6 San Jose State. The regional is set to begin at 6 p.m. MT.
Ohio State and Penn State head to the Raleigh Regional, as the Buckeyes received the No. 2 seed and the Nittany Lions took the No. 3 seed. The squads are joined by No. 1 seed Florida, host and No. 4 seed NC State, No. 5 Kent State and No. 6 North Carolina. Action in Raleigh is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET.
Michigan and Michigan State earned spots in the Auburn Regional, picking up the Nos. 4 and 6 seeds, respectively. Top-seeded Georgia, No. 2 Oregon State, host and No. 3 Auburn and No. 5 West Virginia join the pair of Big Ten teams at the regional, which is set for 6 p.m. ET.
Illinois hosts the Champaign Regional, earning the No. 4 seed at the event. The Illini welcome No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Denver, No. 5 Kentucky and No. 6 UIC to Assembly Hall at 4 p.m. CT. Iowa heads to the Seattle Regional, where it holds the No. 5 seed. The Hawkeyes will compete against No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Arizona, host and No. 4 Washington and No. 6 Central Michigan beginning at 4 p.m. PT.
The top two teams, along with the top two all-around competitors not on an advancing team, will receive automatic berths to the NCAA Championships on April 20-22. In addition, the event winners at each regional site will advance to the national championships in that event only if they do not qualify as part of a team or as an all-around competitor.