The Albany Regional No. 2 of the NCAA Tournament is tough as nails, and LSU finds itself right in the thick of it.
Selection Sunday went just about as planned for the Tigers, finding themselves at a No. 3 seed, hosting the first two rounds at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and taking on No. 14 Rice in the opening round.
The path back to the Final Four, however, isn’t as straight forward.
Here’s a look at how LSU can make it back to the Final Four, and the teams that will likely stand in its way of doing so.
Round of 32
With a win in the first round over Rice, LSU would face the winner of No. 6 Louisville and No. 11 Middle Tennessee.
The Louisville Cardinals are currently the No. 23 ranked team in the AP Top 25, making them one of two No. 6 seeds ranked in the Top 25. The other is Syracuse, which Louisville won one of two games against during the regular season.
Louisville, however, has lost three of its last five games, including two losses to Notre Dame, which is a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But the Cardinals beat Notre Dame 73-66 on Feb. 8. So regardless, Louisville is capable of taking down top teams.
Middle Tennessee lies on the other side of LSU’s potential Round of 32 matchup, and the Blue Raiders are arguably a team that can break many people’s brackets.
They’re on a 19-game win streak, in which they’ve won 17 of their last 19 games by double digit points. Despite playing in a smaller conference in the Conference USA, Middle Tennessee has proved itself against Southeastern Conference opponents with an 11-point win over Tennessee in December.
Middle Tennessee hasn’t lost yet in 2024, and momentum could be all a team needs to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Sweet 16
With wins in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers will head to Albany, New York, to take on the winner of the first two rounds hosted by No. 2 seed UCLA.
UCLA is the favorite to make it through the first two rounds to the Sweet 16, and it opens the tournament against No. 15 California Baptist.
The Bruins are currently the No. 6 team in the country after losing 80-70 to its Los Angeles counterpart, USC, in the Pac-12 Championship in two overtimes. UCLA won one and lost one against USC, which is a 1-seed in the tournament, during the regular season.
Prior to the Pac-12 championship, UCLA was on a six-game win-streak, including two wins over No. 21-ranked Utah, and No. 17 ranked Colorado.
However, the Sweet 16 isn’t a lock for UCLA, as it may have to get past Creighton, the only 7-seed ranked in the AP Top 25.
Creighton came into the Big East semifinals with losses only to teams which made the NCAA Tournament, including two losses to UConn, which is a No. 3 seed in the tournament. But it was upset by Georgetown, which is not in the NCAA Tournament, in the conference semifinals.
The Blue Jays take on No. 10 seed UNLV in the first round of the tournament. The UNLV Rebels could arguably be the most dangerous 10-seed in the tournament, as they’re the only 10-seed ranked in the AP Top 25.
With only two losses on the season, the Rebels have won their last 15 games, including a 17-point victory in the Mountain West Championship. They’ve won three straight conference championships and if their strength of schedule was tougher, they’d likely be a higher seed. Regardless, they are a lower seeded team with higher seed talent.
Elite Eight
It’s difficult for LSU fans to ignore the team the Tigers would likely see in the NCAA Tournament: No. 1 seed Iowa.
Last time LSU and Iowa met, it ended with Kim Mulkey and her Tigers holding a National Championship trophy. It was a game that changed women’s college basketball, as it set a viewing record for the most watched women’s college basketball game.
To say a rematch in the Elite Eight would also break records would be of no surprise. LSU’s Angel Reese and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark have had thousands more eyes on them since the national championship, and Clark hasn’t skipped a beat.
In fact, she may have gotten that much better.
This season, Clark averages 31.9 points per game and 8.9 assists per game, leading the country in both categories. She also became the all-time leading scorer in all of college basketball, men’s and women’s. She’s led her team in scoring in all but one game and in assists in all but one game.
The Hawkeyes have won their last six games and are fresh off an overtime win over Nebraska for a Big Ten championship.
But like any other team in the NCAA Tournament, an Elite Eight is not guaranteed for Iowa.
The Kansas State Wildcats are the No. 4 seed in the region, and they took down Iowa at the start of the regular season by seven points. However, when they played again 10 days later, Iowa came away with a seven-point victory.
Kansas State is currently ranked as the No. 15 team in the AP Top 25. But the Wildcats have lost four of their last eight games, including a 71-64 loss to Texas in the Big 12 Tournament. Before that, they were on a 15-game win-streak.
The Wildcats are a team capable of catching fire, and it may only take a couple games for them to do so.
Iowa would also have to potentially get past No. 5 seed Colorado, which has also experienced some adversity throughout the regular season.
The Buffaloes took LSU down 92-78 in the season opener, but they lost seven conference games in the regular season, including a four-game losing streak, all to ranked opponents. Colorado lost in the Pac-12 quarterfinals to Oregon State, which is a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Colorado has a lot of experience playing together as a team prior to this season. So similar to Kansas State, it may take just a couple of games to get a rhythm together.
The No. 8 seed in the region is West Virginia, which has lost four of its last six games, including two games to Kansas State, one of which was in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
That being said, the Mountaineers are on upset watch as they play No. 9 seed Princeton, which is ranked No. 24 in the Coaches Poll with a 25-4 record. Two of Princeton’s four losses came to ranked opponents, and three of their four losses were before the New Year.
If Princeton can pull off the upset and advance to the Round of 32, it could be yet another lower-half seeded team in the region that could break brackets.
