Through the first two weeks of the women’s college gymnastics season, Utah’s team was living exclusively in the moment. They had to.
The only for sure competitions for the Red Rocks were the Best of Utah and last weekend’s clash against Oklahoma. Everything after that, the entire Pac-12 Conference slate plus an additional out-of-conference meet, was pure conjecture. Nothing was set in stone. Until now.
Utah’s complete 2020-21 schedule was released Tuesday. It includes home meets against Arizona, Washington, UCLA, California and Utah State, and trips to Arizona State, Stanford and Oregon State.
The Red Rocks will have television coverage for every meet through Feb. 28 — television selections have only been made up to that date. Two meets — Washington and UCLA — will air on ESPNU and four meets on the Pac-12 Network. The three regular season appearances on an ESPN network — Utah’s clash against Oklahoma was televised on ESPN2 — are the most in program history in a regular season.
“We are thrilled that ESPN continues to showcase women’s gymnastics and our program,” Utah coach Tom Farden said in a release. “Viewers nationwide had the opportunity to see us this past weekend on ESPN2, while two additional meets will be nationally televised on ESPNU this season and we could not be any more pleased. The extensive coverage by ESPN and the Pac-12 Networks for every meet through the end of February is something we do not take for granted.”
Utah’s regular season finale will be against the in-state Aggies. That meet replaces a previously scheduled competition against Minnesota. The Gophers, members of the Big Ten Conference, are subject to a conference-only schedule this season.
There will be no spectators allowed to attend home gymnastics meets in the Huntsman Center this season, per Pac-12 policy.
The Pac-12 gymnastics championships will be held on Saturday, March 20 at the Maverik Center in West Valley City. NCAA regionals are slated for April 1-3, while the NCAA championships are scheduled for April 16-17. Utah will host one of the four NCAA regionals this year.
Utah gymnastics was not the only women’s team to have its schedule released Tuesday.
Utah volleyball, ranked No. 10 in the AVCA preseason poll, also had its 2020-21 schedule unveiled. The NCAA volleyball season was delayed in the fall of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The schedule includes 22 conference matches, starting Jan. 22 and continuing until April 3. Selection Sunday will be April 4. Each weekend will feature a two-match series that will take place at the same site, replacing the traditional home-and-home matchups of previous years.
Utah will be home for six weekends during the season, and two of those weekends are currently scheduled for TV, with more expected to come.
“We have worked for 13 months to play a volleyball match, and we couldn’t be more excited to get started,” head coach Beth Launiere said in a release. “The team has showed tremendous resolve to get to this point. We’re cognizant of the great responsibility to keep our players and staff safe while we take every precaution possible. With that said, we are ready to play some volleyball!”