Alabama gymnastics to make network television history in meet at Florida

Alabama gymnastics competes for the second time of the 2022 this season on Sunday, when the Crimson Tide travel to Gainesville to take on Florida.

Alabama (0-1) is seeking its first victory of the season in its SEC opener vs. the Gators (1-0) in the 2 p.m. CT meet.

Here's what you need to know about the meet:

Broadcast on ABC

The Crimson Tide and the Gators will be making some history on Sunday. This will be the first regular-season meet ever shown on ABC, as well as the first college dual meet to be shown on broadcast television.

ABC's only previous broadcast of college gymnastics was the 2021 NCAA championships.

Where they're ranked

Following its season-opening loss to Oklahoma, the Crimson Tide fell from No. 6 in the nation to No. 11 with a score of 195.875. Florida opened the season in a quad-meet against Rutgers, Northern Illinois and Texas Woman's University, scoring 197.675, good for a No. 2 ranking.

The teams combined for three of the top 20 performers in the all-around nationally in the first week of competition. Florida freshman Sloane Blakely and senior Megan Skaggs are ranked fifth and eighth respectively, while Alabama junior Mati Waligora ranks 17th.

Last season

The two programs faced off twice in 2021. In the first meet, Alabama's 197.225 was not enough to knock off the then top-ranked Gators when Florida visited Coleman Coliseum. The two met again in the SEC Championship, where Alabama won its first conference title since 2015 with a season-high score of 197.875. Florida finished in third, scoring 196.975.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama gymnastics making network TV history in meet at Florida