The Iron Bowl of gymnastics is upon us.
On March 8, Alabama and Auburn will meet in Birmingham — a neutral site — to compete against each other for the final time in the regular season.
Elevate Gymnastics presented by NobleBank and Trust is being organized by the Knight Eady Sports Group and pits No. 6 Alabama against its arch rival No. 9 Auburn.
The event will be held in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex on Sunday, March 8 at 3 p.m., which served as the site of last year’s SEC and NCAA Gymnastics Championships. This Alabama-Auburn meet will be on the same podiums, which, according to Elevate, have historically only been used for the SEC and NCAA Championships.
For the event, Elevate has partnered with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Alabama and Camp Smile-A-Mile and will donate some of the proceeds to these organizations through ticket sales, sponsorship sales and in-venue promotions at the meet.
While Alabama does have a 35-year, 111-match win streak against Auburn, the two schools have never been more competitive in gymnastics. Alabama only averages .31 points higher than Auburn this season, and the last time they met — in Tuscaloosa — Alabama won by .5 in a 197.325-196.825 victory in February.
Alabama is reeling from a loss to No. 2 LSU, its first loss at home since 2009, but is still the defending SEC Champions and finished fourth in last year’s NCAA Championships. Auburn has looked promising this season, recently beating Georgia for the first time since 2010, scoring its highest score in team history in the process.
Both teams have conference meets this Friday, with Alabama at Missouri and Auburn at Kentucky, then they both will travel to Birmingham for the Elevate meet Sunday.
Elevate Gymnastics presented by NobleBank and Trust between Alabama and Auburn will be at the BJCC on Sunday, March 8 at 3 p.m. Tickets are on sale here.