When the eyes of the college gymnastics world focus on the NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb., in two weeks, head coach Kathie Klages doesn't expect her MSU gymnastics team to be there.
Sure, the Spartans have a chance. They're the No. 6 seed in this weekend's NCAA Central Regional in Alabama.
But Klages and the rest of the Spartans know it would be quite a feat to advance to nationals. To do so, MSU must finish in first or second place in the six-team regional this weekend.
Sounds easy enough, but that would mean topping either defending national champion Alabama or seventh-ranked Oklahoma, who finished second in the Big 12 and has beaten the No. 1 team in the land, UCLA.
The Spartans would also have to best Auburn, Kent State and Central Michigan - all of which are ranked in the top 25 - to advance to Lincoln.
"Alabama and Oklahoma are pretty good shoo-ins, to be perfectly honest," Klages said. "But in this sport, anything can happen. I think it's not unrealistic for us to be third place, and very realistic to finish fourth."
The Spartans are in an NCAA Regional for the second straight year, but they are coming off a disappointing last-place finish in the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago. The disastrous meet was MSU's worst of the season (193.425), and it almost knocked them out of the NCAA field.
But just a week prior, MSU set an all-time school record for team score (196.575), which makes senior Julie Devaty think the Big Ten meet was an unfortunate fluke that won't happen again.
"We fell on things we never fall on," Devaty said. "We've never had a meet like that in the four years I've been here.
"The main thing this weekend is that we can't get down if someone falls. We can't be intimidated. You have to go out there like you're competing against a Division III school and just do what you can do."
Klages expects 10,000 or more fans to fill Alabama's Coleman Coliseum this weekend, making for an intense atmosphere. To prepare her team for the scrutiny, Klages had her competitive gymnasts practice one at a time in front of the watchful eyes of the team and coaching staff this week.
"It was created to add pressure and give them a feel of what it's going to feel like in the meet," Klages said. "I've been telling the team to use the energy in the arena to help us and not blow us over."
Star freshman Sarah Alexander, arguably the team's top performer, is nursing a minor knee injury. She undertook a lighter practice load this week, and is expected to compete with little trouble Saturday.
MSU will open the regional competition on the uneven bars, and then move through the other three events - vault, floor exercise and balance beam. Bar routines are a strong suit for the Spartans, so they're hoping to generate momentum right from the get-go and cruise to a strong finish.
Seniors like Devaty and Diana Crea would like nothing more in possibly their final college meet.
"I want to go out on a high note," Crea said. "Top three - that would be amazing.
"We have a tough, tough region. But at least we made it there. There are a lot of other teams that are just at home right now. It's going to be an honor for me, in my senior year that we made it that far and had fun."
