By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The No. 2 LSU gymnastics team’s road to Fort Worth starts in Baton Rouge.
This weekend, the Tigers host regionals for the first time since 2019, facing No. 15 Clemson (10-8, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), Auburn (4-20, 0-8 Southeastern Conference) and either No. 8 Air Force (15-10, 4-3 Mountain West Conference) or No. 9 Nebraska (7-11, 3-6 Big Ten Conference) in Session II at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Thursday night (7 p.m., ESPN+).
Get ready for a fun week in the PMAC 🙌
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 1, 2026
The Baton Rouge regional kicks off today with Air Force vs Nebraska! Catch all the action on ESPN+
🎟️ https://t.co/hpZQlb8FnF pic.twitter.com/HvkTA0AuAJ
LSU (17-5-1, 5-3 SEC) is looking to punch its ticket to Fort Worth for the fourth consecutive year. To do so, head coach Jay Clark said his team must continue doing what it has all season: perform while avoiding costly mistakes.
“I just want them to believe in their capability and be the team they’ve been all year long. If they do that, we’re going to be pleased with the results,” Clark said on Monday. “If you start overthinking and trying to measure and trying to be extraordinarily better than what you did two weeks ago, then that’s a trap. That’s trap thinking. We’ve got to be aggressive in our mindset.”
For LSU to tap into the high ceiling it has shown in five 198-plus performances this season, Clark said consistency is critical.
“We don’t change gears for the postseason,” Clark said. “If we do that, then we’re kind of setting ourselves up, so it’s just that we’ve got to be the same team we’ve been. And that’s enough. That’s what put us in the number one seed in this regional. That’s what put us as the number two overall national seed. That’s what got us to the place that we’re at. We’ve got great kids, great talent. We should have great confidence. We should be able to walk into any arena and feel good about what we’re about to do and that’s really where we’re focused.”
The postseason presents challenges for every team, especially during regionals weekend. Gymnasts must compete twice in three days, creating both physical and mental strain. The overall level of gymnastics has also risen nationwide, making LSU’s path out of the regional finals far from guaranteed. Still, the Tigers believe their preparation – including an earlier two-meet weekend this season – has them ready for the challenges that lie ahead.
“It’s why we did the two-meet weekend going downtown after Alabama,” Clark said. “We train that way. We do inter squads the day before competitions. We do things that get us prepared for a two-meet weekend.”
While the weekend will be demanding, LSU still holds a clear advantage: competing at home. The Tigers can sleep in their own beds and are familiar with the equipment, adding to the comfort of a typical home meet. But Clark emphasized that home-floor advantage alone won’t be enough.
“We can’t walk in here thinking we can just walk through this thing,” Clark said. “Being in our environment on our equipment should be an advantage for us, but we still have to have our minds right. Same way we do for every Friday night that we’re in here against an SEC opponent or whatever the case may be, so we really can’t take it for granted.”
Clark said it will be crucial to set the tone for the rest of the weekend on Thursday night.
“You just go out there and you put it all out there,” Clark said. “Like I said, our confidence should be brimming. We should be in a good place mentally and emotionally and just go attack. Compete free and fearless and enjoy this. This is what you work for.”
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