By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
In her first four years at LSU, head coach Kim Mulkey never placed a major emphasis on winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
And that perspective has not changed, even though her team could earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if it wins the SEC Tournament this weekend in Greenville, South Carolina. No. 6 LSU (26-4, 12-4 SEC) is currently seen as a No. 2 or 3 seed for the Big Dance.
“So, my viewpoint has always been, ‘What’s the purpose of conference tournaments? For the Cinderellas? How many Cinderellas do you really have in women’s basketball?’ Is it just some of them need one more win Because they’re on the bubble?,” Mulkey asked on Sunday after the Tigers’ 72-63 win over Mississippi State at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
“I don’t know,” she said. “But I know that throughout my career, I have always wanted to go from the regular season conference to postseason. I’ve always said the regular season means much more than a conference tournament championship.”
The SEC Tournament opens Wednesday. LSU has a double bye as one of the top four seeds at No. 4 and does not play until Friday (1:30 p.m., ESPN).
In Mulkey’s view, the 16-game conference schedule gives the selection committee more than enough information to properly seed the NCAA Tournament. LSU’s four SEC losses – tied for the most under her tenure in Baton Rouge – still reflect a strong season and may say more about the league’s depth than any shortcomings on LSU’s part. The SEC is currently projected to send 11 teams to the NCAA Tournament.
Mulkey has also hinted that facing conference opponents again in the SEC Tournament, only to potentially see them in the NCAA Tournament weeks later, adds another layer of frustration via redundancy.
“I’ll guarantee those people on that committee are going to be pulling their hair out to try to seed these teams in this league,” Mulkey said. “I’ve never seen anything like this. This league this year, it is brutal. Brutal. And how in the world are you going to try to keep us all away from each other until you get to a certain round?”
Location is another factor. The SEC Tournament has been held in Greenville, South Carolina, at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2017, creating what has often felt like a home-court advantage for South Carolina, which is located just 100 miles away in Columbia.
“I would think that competitors want it in other places closer to their fans, but hey, get off your rump and bid on it,” Mulkey said. “We’d like to have it in New Orleans. Somebody bid on it, let’s go to the Smoothie King Center. I’m sure Texas would like to have it somewhere in Texas, but South Carolina’s stepping up to the plate, and they are committed to it. And kudos to them.”
Beyond the crowd atmosphere, some believe South Carolina holds other advantages. USA Today Louisiana writer Cory Diaz, who previously covered the Gamecocks, suggested that South Carolina coach Dawn Staley’s team tends to receive favorable calls and non-calls in Greenville.
“Look, the South Carolina whistle inside the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville is unlike any whistle that I’ve ever seen,” Diaz said on Tiger Rag on Feb. 17. “It’s going to be tough for LSU or really any other team to beat them in that building.”
The SEC Tournament is scheduled to continue to be in Greenville from 2026 through 2028 after the 2023-25 tournaments were there. It was previously there from 2017-21.
Should LSU and No. 1 seed/No. 3-ranked South Carolina (29-2, 15-1 SEC) win opening games Friday, they would meet in a semifinal on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ESPN2).
Mulkey has lost all six of her games against Staley as LSU’s coach, including a 79-72 loss on Feb. 14 in Baton Rouge. She won the national championship with the Tigers in the 2022-23 season after Iowa upset South Carolina in a Final Four semifinal, then LSU beat Iowa.
Regardless of what happens in the SEC Tournament, at some point in this NCAA Tournament Mulkey and LSU will likely have to finally beat Staley and South Carolina to get to where it wants to go again.
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