CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois men's gymnastics team will head to Norman, Oklahoma, this weekend for one final road meet, this time against top-ranked Oklahoma. Competition is set to begin on Saturday, March 18, at 7 p.m. in McCasland Field House.

"I think, on paper, Oklahoma is a better team," said head coach Justin Spring. "But I think they are beatable on any given day if they don't have a great meet. We just have to be in a position to do our best job that day as well."

Illinois is coming off a 404.000 performance against Michigan and Stanford, where the Illini suffered their first defeats of the season.

Illinois has yet to face Oklahoma this year, and last met the Sooners at last year's NCAA Team Finals.

"At the end of the day, what we can control is our gymnastics, and that is what we are going to do," Spring said.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA

This will be the first meeting between the Fighting Illini and Oklahoma since last year's NCAA Championships. Using the three-score average, Oklahoma is ranked first in the nation in the all-around, and every single event except floor, where the Sooners are ranked second.

Individually, Oklahoma has the No. 2 and No. 3 all-arounders in Yul Moldauer (86.450) and Allan Bower (85.617), respectively. Moldauer is the nation's top-ranked gymnast on floor (14.850), rings (15.067) and parallel bars (15.383). Molduaer is also sixth on pommel horse (14.583) and eighth on vault (14.700). Bower is No. 1 in the country on pommel horse (15.200), No. 3 on parallel bars (14.550) and No. 10 on rings (14.433). The Sooners' Levi Anderson is the nation's top-ranked athlete on high bar, with a three-score average of 14.817.

PARADISE RECEIVES WEEKLY CONFERENCE HONOR

Illini freshman Michael Paradise was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week by the conference office after posting a 14.200 on pommel horse against Michigan and Stanford. The honor is the first Big Ten Freshman of the Week nod for Paradise, and the third weekly conference accolade for an Illini gymnast. Paradise's 14.200 was behind only teammate Brandon Ngai and Stanford's Akash Modi, who both scored a 14.800.

NO. 4 IN THE NATION

Illinois dropped one spot to fourth place in the latest CGA Coaches Poll. The Illini were No. 3 for eight-straight weeks, and are up one spots from their preseason ranking.

UP NEXT

Illinois will return home for a final meet against Ohio State next weekend on Friday, March 24, at 7 p.m. CT. The meet will be the last for the Illini before the Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships at State Farm Center.

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP AT STATE FARM CENTER

The 2017 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships will be hosted by Illinois and held at the State Farm Center on April 7 & 8. The Big Ten Championships were last held at Illinois in 2011, which saw the Illini take home the Big Ten title. Tickets are on sale now at fightingillini.com