The best damn show in Baton Rouge: LSU Gymnastics and the Return of the Champs

In the world of college athletics, it’s hard to draw a crowd during winter break. The final exams for the fall semester are over, students are home for the holidays. But yet in Baton Rouge on a Monday night in mid-December, a sea of purple and gold flooded the entrances of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Face-painted children cheer for their favorite athletes, holding up homemade signs stating, “I love Haleigh!” and “It’s my 8th birthday!” Thousands of fans file into seats in a fever pitch of excitement, ready to watch the one of the biggest shows in all of college sports – LSU gymnastics.

The annual Gymnastics 101 showcase has become a cherished tradition, and returned this year presenting Open Mike Night: a preseason exhibition for fans ahead of the season opener in January, offering a sneak peek of new routines and lineups including interactive interviews with the team. It also serves as a dress rehearsal for the athletes, helping them acclimate to performing in front of a roaring crowd.

Free to the public, the event draws in a large number of locals, fans from all across Louisiana and beyond. The night is centered around recognizing the program’s fans and skyrocketing support due to the team’s recent accomplishments, including last year’s national championship.

Entering the 2025 season, they may be the No. 2 seed, but nothing can top the unparalleled spirit that encompasses LSU women’s gymnastics.

Head coach Jay Clark begins his fifth season with the Tigers having already obtained three championship appearances and the recent national title, emphasizes the importance of adjusting the athletes to the pressures of the stage.

“It’s important to get out of that comfort zone,” said Clark. “There’s a lot of really good, consistent stuff going on in the gym, but what does it look like when you get into a different environment?”

Crowds of over 12,000 can be daunting to the average collegiate athlete, but the spotlight is nothing new for Clark’s gymnasts.

A record-breaking 2024 season saw the program with the largest attendance numbers in college gymnastics, along with three sold-out meets at the PMAC and going undefeated at home altogether. Their achievements garnered the attention of millions and, as a new season approaches, all eyes remain on LSU.

On Dec. 10, the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association announced the 2025 preseason poll, placing LSU at No. 2 behind No. 1 Oklahoma. In their last matchup, LSU came second to the Sooners in the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad on neutral ground in West Valley City, Utah. The teams will reunite for the same meet this season, meeting in Oklahoma for a showdown.

The two powerhouses will face off again in a Valentine’s Day conference matchup that promises to be one of the season’s most anticipated events. This time around, the Tigers will have the advantage–in front of the home crowd made up of the die-hard, cult-like fans of LSU athletics. By far, the team’s biggest ace is its supporters–no one shows out like Baton Rouge.

Generations of Tigers “pack the PMAC” on Friday nights, as alumni share the extraordinary experience with their children and grandchildren as a part of LSU family traditions. Just like football, LSU gymnastics is not just a one-time thing for some, but a lifestyle, and many of these attendees makeup the large portion of fans that are season ticket holders.

This fall’s preseason ticket sales smashed all previous records with 8,680 season tickets sold, over 600 more than last year–it’s safe to say LSU will have another year of record-breaking crowds. The excitement around the program is palpable and gymnastics at the PMAC remains incomparable now more than ever, but the team still has a daunting title to live up to.

Last spring, fans got to witness a decades-long journey come to an epic conclusion when the team won their first NCAA championship. Hopes were high for the Tigers ahead of the 2024 season as the No. 3 seed and a blended lineup of experience and top recruits. In crucial moments during the regular and postseason, the Tigers delivered when it mattered most. In the NCAA championships’ Four on the Floor, they were hailed the best in the nation after an almost flawless performance on beam by Aleah Finnegan in the final rotation sealed the deal. LSU finished with a lead of just under four tenths over California, Florida and Utah.

Haleigh Bryant delivered breathtaking performances that earned her national acclaim and the 2024 individual all-around champion title, while Finnegan claimed the NCAA floor title.

The team became instant local royalty, as celebrations ensued across campus: parades lasting miles and ceremonies lasting hours as fans continued to revel in the joy of the achievement.

2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Gymnastics Championships

“It’s such an emotional release that happened last year and the celebration that has been protracted since then,” said Clark. “It’s a blessing, but it’s potentially a curse.”

Clark and the team know the road from here does not get any easier, as recreating last season’s success under the eyes of the nation will prove to be an even bigger challenge. Fans will pour into arenas around the country to watch the reigning champs attempt to defend their title.

This summer, Finnegan took her talents to the global stage, competing for Team Philippines at the Olympics in Paris and further cementing her star status ahead of her senior year.

Following a year of major accomplishments for the squad, 2025 seems full of opportunities, and for some, it will be the last dance in their collegiate career.

Many of the program’s fan-favorites will be returning to lead the team for one last season, such as Finnegan, Bryant and Olivia Dunne in her 5th and final year of eligibility. Despite the wealth of talent, Clark knows that nothing is guaranteed.

“We have to guard against thinking that this team has done anything because it hasn’t,” Clark explained. “It has the ability to do anything that it sets its mind to, but this is not that team. We have to make sure that they understand that.”

The glory of a national championship and the fame that comes with the title can get to the head of any athlete. It is the biggest achievement in all of college athletics and deserves the utmost respect, but complacency has become Clark’s biggest concern since the moment they became champions.

According to him, the championship title belongs to last year’s team, not this one. This team must forge its own identity, and only then can they live up to the enormous precedent set before them.

“The first hardest thing to do is get over the hump and win one and then the next hardest thing is to make sure you don’t walk around acting like you’ve arrived,” said Clark.

In a do-or-die season, the spotlight is firmly fixed on Baton Rouge, with the intangible hype surrounding LSU and the upcoming season taking over women’s college gymnastics, proving they are the ones to watch.

As a fan, you will never experience anything else like it. From the raging crowds of the PMAC to the athletes who pour their hearts into every routine, LSU represents the best of collegiate athletics. LSU gymnastics isn’t just a team—it’s a phenomenon.

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