Men?s Gymnastics Announces 2015 Schedule

NORMAN – University of Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione and head men's gymnastics coach Mark Williams announced Oklahoma's 2015 schedule Thursday.

“With our schedule we will get a chance to see everybody who is going to be in the top six, with the three teams we host in our home meets and traveling to Stanford; Penn State is the only team we won't meet that is expected to be in the top five or six teams,” said Williams. “Basically we want to get out there and see what everyone else is doing as we gradually build to the championship at the end of the season.”

The national runner-up and defending MPSF champion Sooners will compete against a challenging schedule before hosting the NCAA Championships in April at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

A trio of powerhouse programs from the Big Ten will travel to Norman in the regular season, as the Sooners welcome defending champions Michigan, along with Illinois and Ohio State for OU's three home meets before the NCAA Championships to conclude the season.

“The big three teams we have coming in for home meets are Michigan first, the defending national champions, then Illinois on a Friday night,” said Williams. “Both of those will be in McCasland and then our home schedule wraps up with Ohio State, which will be a preview to the NCAA National Championships because we will host that in Lloyd Noble Center. All three of those teams were in last year's team finals, so great competition coming to Norman.”

The Sooners will travel to Colorado Springs, Colorado; Palo Alto, California; Iowa City, Iowa; Las Vegas, Nevada and Berkley, California during the 2015 season.

Oklahoma will open the campaign at the Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado Springs, Colorado for the 11th consecutive season on Jan. 17 and then will head out west to compete against Stanford one week later on Jan. 24.

The Sooners will next travel to compete at Iowa on Feb. 1 in a meet with Iowa and Ohio State before heading back to Norman for their home opener in a highly anticipated showdown against Michigan on Feb. 14.

There is then a break in the team's competitions, as the Sooner gymnasts will compete as individuals at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas, Nevada from Feb. 19-21.

The regular season then wraps up with three head-to-head competitions before the championship portion of the schedule commences. OU hosts Illinois at the McCasland Fieldhouse on Feb. 27 before traveling to California for the second time during the season to compete against UC Berkley on March 7. The Sooners' final regular season meet will be against Ohio State on March 14 and will take place at the Lloyd Noble Center.

Oklahoma will look to claim its 14th MPSF championship in 17 seasons on March 28 in Colorado Springs, Colo., competing against Stanford, California and Air Force.

The Sooners will wrap up the season by hosting NCAA Championships from April 9-11, marking the fourth time in program history OU has been the site for the championships and first time since 2012. Oklahoma has won the title in two of the three years it has been the host of the finals (2002 and 2006).

“Hosting is a great advantage,” said Williams. “We get to stay home. The guys will get to go to class and maintain a somewhat normal schedule and sleep in their own beds.

“You can't beat the home atmosphere. Having your family and Sooner fans there, being in the same arena that we have had various meets throughout the years and bringing everybody here, so we don't have to travel; those are all good things for us.”

In addition to the regular season and postseason competitions, OU will have its annual Crimson and Cream intrasquad meet on Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. in the Viersen Center.

Get inside looks at the Sooners throughout the season by liking the OU Men's Gymnastics Facebook page and by following the team on Twitter and Instagram using the handle @OU_MGymnastics.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Men?s Gymnastics Announces 2015 Schedule

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