The Utes host SUU and Utah State tonight at the Huntsman Center, then fly to Los Angeles Saturday and compete against the UCLA Bruins on Sunday afternoon.

Competing more than once a weekend was unheard of for college teams until a few years ago.

Now, more and more teams are scheduling more than one competition a week to help prepare for the NCAA Championships. The NCAAs use a two-day format for the team competition, but gymnasts could compete three nights in a row if they qualify for the individual event championships.

"This might give us a taste of what nationals are like, especially for the freshmen, to compete in two meets," junior Kristina Baskett said. "Yeah, we'll be tired, but it'll make us better. We're going to have to prepare ourselves to not come down so much after the first meet and get back up for Sunday."

Utah traditionally has opened the season with the Bruins, but couldn't this year because of miscommunication between the coaching staffs over the schedule. Utah started with Georgia instead and squeezed in the ninth-ranked Bruins on Sunday afternoon.

UCLA won't have any more rest than Utah, since it competes at Arizona tonight.

The weekend schedule is similar to what some gymnasts experienced at the elite level, when they often competed on Thursday and Saturday at weekend meets.

"It will be hard for sure, but we have to do it and it will be good preparation for nationals," Utah senior Ashley Postell said. "It will be good for others to get out there and see how it feels. I don't know if it has any disadvantages, other than being tired."

UCLA often schedules at least one weekend meet a year and sometimes uses virtually an A and B team.

"If we are able to put up different athletes, especially on floor, then two meets in a weekend actually serves a purpose," UCLA coach Valorie Kondos Fields said. "It allows the athletes to work on issues they had in the previous meet in such short turnaround time that they feel some sense of vindication."

Kondos Fields said she planned to use her strongest lineup for the Utes.

Expect the same from Utah, particularly with Sunday's meet the first of four against teams ranked in the top 15. The Utes could rest some of their gymnasts who are nursing injuries, such as Nina Kim and Annie DiLuzio, tonight to help the team be as fresh as possible for Sunday.

"We'd like to beat UCLA at UCLA," Utah coach Greg Marsden said. "It's the first real opportunity to go up against one of the teams you could see in the Super Six, if we're both lucky enough to get there."

However, Marsden said it was important for his team to not take tonight's opponents lightly. Both SUU and Utah State are dealing with injuries, but the T-birds still are having a strong season.

Utah will have a week off after the UCLA meet, an unusual respite for the Utes, who normally don't have a break until April before the postseason starts.

"This will be a good experience; a lot of teams do it, so it's not impossible," senior Katie Kivisto said. "Maybe we should experiment and see how it goes. It might be worth it, to get a week off."

lwodraska@sltrib.com

SUU, USU at No. 2 Utah

Where: Huntsman Center

When: Today, 7 p.m.

Records: Southern Utah 5-1, Utah State 3-7, Utah 6-0

Elsewhere: BYU at Oregon State, 8 p.m.

What to look for: SUU was ranked No. 15 before dropping out of the rankings this week because it didn't have enough meets to qualify for the regional qualifying scoring system. . . . The T-birds suffered their first loss last week, falling to San Jose State (195.325-194.800). Elise Wheeler leads the team with an all-around best of 39.200. . . . Utah State has several gymnasts injured and has struggled with a high score of just 192.700 this season. Nicki Folley has an all-around best of 38.775.