Oklahoma earned the No. 1 seed in the Central Region and will be paired with No. 2-seed LSU, No. 3-seed Penn State, No. 4-seed Kentucky, No. 5-seed Michigan State and No. 6-seed Ohio State.

Under head coach Steve Nunno, it is the first No. 1 seed for a Sooner team entering an NCAA regional.

"It is going to be a tough region," said head coach Steve Nunno. "All six teams have had great seasons and have been competing at very high levels. We have our work cut out for us."

The Sooners are 10-8 on the season and ranked sixth in the nation. OU is coming off a disappointing third-place finish at the Big 12 Championship on March 25. The highlight of the meet for Oklahoma was Brittney Koncak-Schumann winning the all-around competition with a 39.425 and Stephanie LoPiccolo earning a tie for first on bars with a 9.85.

Four of the six teams competing in the Central Regional are ranked in the top 20 nationally. Oklahoma leads the way at No. 6, followed by No. 7 LSU, Penn State tied at No. 16 and Kentucky at No. 20.

The Sooners faced the LSU Tigers in a dual meet earlier in the season (Feb. 24) in Baton Rouge. OU went on to win the meet 196.950-196.575, but LSU’s April Burkholder won the all-around competition with a 39.650. It was the only meet this season that Oklahoma hit a perfect 24-of-24 routines and scored a 49.000 or higher in all four team events.

"LSU has improved each week and will be looking to get revenge from its loss to us earlier in the season," Nunno said. "They are at a whole new level now and have really been training hard in the gym. I do think we have an advantage over the other teams because we have already faced LSU. We are familiar with the atmosphere and know exactly what to expect."

Oklahoma qualified for the national championships last year in Auburn, Ala., with its second-place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional. No. 1-seed LSU took top honors, scoring a total of 197.125 to join OU and its 195.550 at nationals.

The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Corvallis, Ore., April 20-23, hosted by Oregon State University.

Sooner Notes

• The Sooners have won 41 individual event titles this season. Brittney Koncak-Schumann has earned 23 of those including seven victories in the all-around. Kiara Redmond and Haley DeProspero have both won five.

• Oklahoma is ranked in the top 15 in all four events including No. 2 on vault, No. 14 on bars, No. 6 on beam and No. 7 on floor.

• OU has won 27 team event titles this season (6 Vault, 7 Bars, 7 Beam and 7 Floor). Oklahoma swept all four event titles in five different meets this season (Southern Utah, TWU Triangular, Texas Woman’s University, Centenary and Kent State).

• Oklahoma has been ranked in the top 10 for 11 conescutive weeks. The Sooners have been listed at No. 6 seven times and started the season ranked No. 10, which was their highest preseason ranking under head coach Steve Nunno. OU reached No. 5 twice this season which is its second highest ranking in program history. In 2005, the Sooners were ranked No. 3 for one week following their meet at the Cancun Classic.