Michigan Travels to No. 3 Illinois for First Road Competition

» With only a pair of team scores this year, the U-M team and individual Wolverine competitors do not qualify for this week's Road To Nationals rankings that are based on three-score average.
» Michigan is ranked No. 8 in the CGA coaches poll. Illinois is No. 6 in the Road To Nationals rankings but checks in at No. 3 in the CGA poll.
» Michigan's top team score (411.850) holds as the seventh-highest team score in the nation, one spot below Illinois' 412.500.

THIS WEEK
Saturday, Feb. 24 -- at No. 3 Illinois (Champaign, Ill.), 3 p.m. CST
TV: BTN | Live Results | BTN2Go

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The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team (1-1, 1-0 Big Ten) is set to compete in its first road meet of the season against the No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday (Feb. 24) at 3 p.m. CST in Champaign, Illinois. The meet will be broadcast nationally via Big Ten Network, with Dean Linke and John Roethlisberger on the call from Huff Hall.

WOLVERINE BITES
• The meet marks the start of the five up, five count format. Previously, each team could compete six routines per event and the top five comprised the team's score. The format applies to remainder of the season and generally favors the most talented team.

• With only a pair of team scores this year, the U-M team and individual Wolverine competitors do not qualify for this week's Road To Nationals rankings that are based on three-score average. Michigan is ranked No. 8 in the CGA coaches poll, while Illinois is No. 6 in the Road To Nationals rankings and checks in at No. 3 in the CGA poll.

• Freshman Cameron Bock competed on four events in the qualifying session of the 2018 Winter Cup Challenge this past Thursday (Feb. 15) in Las Vegas, Nevada . Bock's night was highlighted by a 12.850 on parallel bars, which tied for 19th, but he did not qualify for the event finals.

• Freshman Jacob Moore still holds the highest score on floor exercise this season in the NCAA (14.950), which he accomplished in week four, earning him the event title against Ohio State (Feb. 3). Moore earned CGA and Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors following this performance.

• Michigan's 411.850 team score that resulted in the takedown of Ohio State (Feb. 3) is the seventh highest score in the NCAA to date. Illinois is ranked sixth with a score of 412.500, which helped the Illini defeat Penn State (Jan. 27).

• The Wolverines have had a strong presence on floor, highlighted by Moore's season-high 14.950. Both junior Emyre Cole and redshirt junior Alec Krystek have a season high of 14.500 on the apparatus.

• Junior Anthony McCallum, the two-time defending NCAA champion on vault, will not participate in the meet due to an ankle injury suffered against Ohio State. He is considered week-to-week.

OPPONENT PREVIEW
• The Fighting Illini had three members of the team compete in the event finals of the 2018 Winter Cup Challenge this past weekend. Junior Alex Diab came away with an event title on still rings, while senior Brandon Ngai placed third on pommel horse with a two-day total of 29.050. Junior Johnny Jacobson competed in all six events Saturday night, posting an all-around score of 75.900.

• Illinois fell to Minnesota in its last regular meet of the season despite strong performances from brothers Alex and Max Diab, who snatched event titles on still rings (15.000) and vault (14.700), respectively. Senior Brandon Ngai took home the event title on pommel horse (14.100), his 19th career title on the apparatus.

• The Illini are ranked first in the country on floor exercise with an average score of 68.880 and are ranked third on rings (68.370) and fourth on high bar (66.900).

• The Wolverines and Fighting Illini met in back-to-back meets last season. First the No. 11 Maize and Blue fell to No. 6 Illinois for second place in the quad-meet Puerto Rico Challenge (March 4, 2017). The following weekend, No. 11 U-M hosted No. 2 Stanford and No. 3 Illinois in a tri-meet (March 11, 2017), and the Wolverines defeated Illinois but lost to Stanford with a team score of 407.300.

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