Athens — At the end of 2004 when all Suzanne Yoculan's senior talent was gone and there were not national titles to show for it, the coach decided it was time for a change.

Not necessarily a change in the way she coached, but in the way the athletes lived.

"I made the freshmen, sophomore and juniors move into the dorms," she said.

Can't you almost hear the collective groan? But there was a method to this moving. Yoculan wanted togetherness. She wanted a team, not individuals. She wanted more titles and since the move Georgia has three.

"College is about being able to meet other people and be around other athletes and having a balanced life is important so we required them to live in the dorms," Yoculan said. "If I were an administrator here I would require all athletes to do it."

Not every sport does. But Yoculan and her Gym Dogs are unlike most teams at Georgia. For one, they win on the biggest stage every year. For two, they enjoy that stage.

In fact, the Gym Dogs will be taking to it again twice Saturday. First there is a meet for No. 1 Georgia against No. 11 Arkansas at 4 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum. In addition, the Gym Dogs are coming to a screen near you. SportsSouth will air a 60-minute all-access, behind-the-scenes special "Under the Lights," about the Gym Dogs at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

"There are no secrets on our team," Yoculan said. "There are no secrets about anything."

The viewer may even be let in on a few like how junior Courtney Kupets can't stop herself from singing, apparently loudly, to every song.

"But she gets all the words wrong all the time," joked Cassidy McComb.

Or the viewer might just get into a glimpse of what makes this team a tight-knit group that stays together on the floor and, as noted above, off the floor as well. That bonding has been especially critical for the freshmen.

"They develop a friendship and a relationship outside of the gym and then when they come into the gym they are not such an intimidating force because they know each other," Yoculan said. "That to me has been really important for the cohesiveness of the team and the adjustment for freshmen."

Two freshmen were thrown into that mix this year, McComb and Hilary Mauro. For Mauro it was another step in her career. The Massachusetts native has followed gymnastics all around the country and overseas. So the adjustment was more seamless.

For McComb, the move to Georgia from Las Vegas was the first time she had been away from her family.

So there was homesickness and there was the intimidation factor of being on the same team with members of the three-time defending NCAA national champions.

The intimidation factor, in the gym, is still there.

"It will always be there," she said.

An all-around title last week against Kentucky helped some though. What else has helped is the tightness of the team and the fact that help is just down the hall.

"It helps so much knowing that they have been through it and you can go to them with questions concerns, feelings, whatever you are feeling you can go to them,' McComb said.