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The Weekend Ahead — February 1-3

Florida comes into the weekend as the top-ranked team with a 197.025 average. The only problem with that kind of average is that the Gators will have to go mid-197s again (this week on the road) in order to increase the average meaningfully. If Florida scores around that 197 and stays the same, Oklahoma and Michigan will have the best chances to jump ahead, Oklahoma with a 197.400 and Michigan with a 197.550. It’s possible, but Florida is probably going to have to drop tenths to lose #1 after this week. While that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, Florida has just four road meets remaining and still needs three big road scores for RQS, so those road meets are starting to become more important.

I’ll be around through the early half of Friday for the usual action, most notably LSU @ Kentucky, but the big day is Saturday. Be sure to get your provisions beforehand because it starts with Alabama @ Georgia in the afternoon (Iowa/Michigan is another fine choice in the same time slot) and runs right into UCLA @ Stanford on pac-12.com. I’ll be blogging both, and it should be a grand old time. Alabama/Georgia is always the most fun meet of the year, and don’t expect Alabama to tolerate dropping tenths the way they have been. Danna Durante seems like the level-headed and polite type, but it would be a good investment in all of our futures if she were to decide to hate Sarah Patterson at least once a year.

Every once in a while the teams try to make the UCLA/Stanford rivalry happen, but no one’s heart is in it. It’s just another meet, but one between two teams that are precise, refined, and always on the verge of collapse, which should provide great entertainment.

Top 25 Schedule
Friday – 2/1/2013
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [2] Oklahoma, Western Michigan, William & Mary @ West Virginia
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [6] LSU @ [16] Kentucky
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [19] Illinois @ [7] Nebraska
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [10] Minnesota @ Michigan State
7:30 ET/4:30 PT – [17] Auburn @ Missouri
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – [1] Florida @ [22] Arkansas
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – Arizona State @ [9] Utah
9:00 ET/6:00 PT – BYU @ [21] Boise State
10:00 ET/7:00 PT – [12] Arizona @ Washington

Saturday – 2/2/2013
4:00 ET/1:00 PT – Iowa @ [3] Michigan
4:00 ET/1:00 PT – [5] Alabama @ [8] Georgia
4:00 ET/1:00 PT – [25] Kent State @ Bowling Green
5:00 ET/2:00 PT – [15] Maryland @ North Carolina
6:00 ET/3:00 PT – [23] Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Illinois State @ Illinois-Chicago
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [4] UCLA @ [11] Stanford
7:00 ET/4:00 PT – [18] Ohio State @ Penn State
8:00 ET/5:00 PT – [24] NC State, San Jose State, Air Force @ [13] Denver

Sunday – 2/3/2013
5:00 ET/2:00 PT – [14] Oregon State @ [20] California