By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
On the surface, the No. 6 LSU women’s basketball team appears to be out of the mix for one of the four No. 1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament that will run from March 18 through April 5.
But LSU women’s basketball beat writer Reed Darcey of the Baton Rouge Advocate said on Tiger Rag Radio Tuesday night that there is still a chance for coach Kim Mulkey and her team at a top seed and all its seeding advantages.
Listen to the show by clicking here.
But first ,the Tigers (24-4, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) host Tennessee (16-10, 8-6 SEC) at 5 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN in a critical game.
A win assures the Tigers of a double bye in the SEC Tournament on March 4-8 in Greenville, South Carolina. Then if LSU can win at Mississippi State (18-10, 5-9 SEC) for its fourth straight victory and go 3-0 at the SEC Tournament for the title, it might get that No. 1 seed.
“There’s still a small chance that LSU can get a No. 1 seed,” Darcey said on Tiger Rag Radio. “But in order to do that, they’d have to win the whole thing – the SEC Tournament. That would be a seven-game winning streak. It’s difficult, but it’s not impossible.”
A loss in the SEC Tournament title game might still warrant No. 1 seed consideration. Three of LSU’s four losses were to top five teams – No. 3 South Carolina at home by seven, at No. 4 Texas by 13 and at No. 5 Vanderbilt by four. The other loss was to No. 15 Kentucky at home by two.
If LSU doesn’t get a top seed, it will not be a major disappointment. Mulkey and the Tigers did win the national championship in 2023 as a No. 3 seed after Iowa upset South Carolina in a national semifinal at the Final Four before LSU beat Iowa for the crown.
“The NCAA Selection Committee will have to make some tough decisions putting together the bracket (and the seeding),” Darcey said. “Do they pair LSU and South Carolina in the same region, or South Carolina and Vanderbilt in the same region? Or do they try to avoid those match-ups with SEC teams as much as they can until the Final Four? That’s going to be pretty difficult. So, what we may see is LSU might have to get through Texas or South Carolina in order get to the Final Four. That would be pretty interesting.”
As usual with teams coached by Mulkey, a four-time national champion head coach with three at Baylor, her team is getting better as the season gets late. The Tigers have proven they can now go big and small.
“That’s one thing that makes them a little more dangerous in March,” Darcey said.
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