LSU’s AP Top 25 ranking went down four spots after losing to Mississippi State last Monday. It is now ranked No. 13, its lowest ranking all season.

Things were bound to get more difficult when SEC play rolled around. With better teams and better competition, the Tigers were going to get any team’s best in conference play. And so far, they have. In fact, the Tigers have lost three of their last six games. 

Most of the time, LSU’s worst enemy has been itself. Defense, especially on the perimeter, and lack of depth have been two of the primary issues with the Tigers.

The 12 teams ranked ahead of LSU are as follows:

1. South Carolina

2. Iowa

3. North Carolina State

4. Colorado

5. Ohio State

6. Stanford

7. Texas

8. Kansas State

9. UCLA

10. USC

11. Connecticut

12. Notre Dame

Of these 12 teams, LSU has played two of them; No. 1 ranked South Carolina, and No. 4 ranked Colorado.

Here is a look at what these teams look like offensively, defensively and depth wise, compared to LSU.

Offense: Points per game

The one aspect LSU never seemed to have struggled with at any point this season is putting points on the board. The Tigers rank second in the country in points per game at 90.5. 

Iowa ranks first in that category at 91.9, which comes to no surprise as the Hawkeyes are led by Caitilin Clark, who leads the country in points per game at 32.4.

South Carolina is right behind LSU with 89.1 points per game. This also comes to no surprise with its undefeated record thus far, the only undefeated school left in the top 25.

Of the schools ranked above LSU, Texas ranks eighth at 83.8 points per game, UConn ranks 10th with 83.2 points per game, and Notre Dame is 11th with 83.1 points per game.

Offense: Field goal percentage

LSU ranks 11th in the country for field goal percentage at 48.4%. Angel Reese and Mikaylah Williams both lead the Tigers with a 50% field goal percentage each.

UConn leads the country in field goal percentage at 51.7%. Aaliyah Edwards leads the Huskies with a 59.5% field goal percentage. Right behind UConn is South Carolina with a 51.6% field goal percentage.

Iowa ranks fifth in this category with a 50.6% field goal percentage and Texas ranks seventh at 49.9%.

Offense: Points differential

LSU has had no problem putting points on the board and it’s also not had much of a problem gaining separation from opponents this season. The Tigers rank second in the country in point differential at +27.5.

The Tigers are only behind South Carolina, who leads the country winning by an average of 34.8 points. Of the Gamecocks’ 21 games this season, they’ve won 18 of them by double digits.

Their win over LSU is just one of three games this season they didn’t win by more than 10 points, the others coming to North Carolina and Utah.

Texas ranks third in the category with a point differential of +26.2 and Iowa ranks right behind Texas with a +23.3 point differential. UConn ranks sixth at +23.1 and Notre Dame is seventh at +22.7.

Defense: Points allowed

Of the top 13 teams in the country, including LSU, no team is ranked in the top 10 for least points allowed per game. This is largely because of strength of schedule; top teams are playing other top teams, and they score almost as much as they allow.

However, South Carolina ranks 11th in least points allowed per game at 54.3. To put this in perspective, South Carolina has played five ranked teams this season, including LSU, and they’re still a leader in the least points allowed per game.

LSU allows an average of 63 points per game, which is about average for not only the entire country, but the SEC as well.

Looking at teams ranked above LSU, Kansas State allows an average of 53.7 points per game, Texas allows an average of 57.5 points per game, and Stanford allows an average of 58.4 points per game.

But LSU is comparable to some of these schools as well. Colorado averages 63 points allowed, Ohio State averages 63.1 points allowed, UCLA averages 63.3 points allowed, and Iowa averages 68.5 points allowed.

Defense: Rebounds

LSU’s strength on defense has been in the paint, as it averages the third most rebounds per game in the country at 46.8. 

Reese ranks fourth in the country with 12.1 rebounds per game. Aneesah Morrow is tied for 25th with 10 rebounds per game.

South Carolina ranks second in the country for rebounds per game at 47.2. However, it has no player ranked in the top 25 for rebounds per game; 6-foot-7 center, Kamilla Cardoso, is tied for 31st with 9.8 rebounds per game. 

Stanford ranks sixth in the country for rebounds per game at 46 rebounds per game. The Cardinal have two of the top rebounders in the country in Cameron Brink, who ranks sixth in the country for rebounds per game at 11.9, and Kiki Iriafen, who ranks 17th in rebounds per game with 10.6.

Overall: Fouls per game

When it comes to being its own worst enemy, LSU may be just that, as it leads the country in fouls per game with 23.3.

No team ranked above LSU ranks within the top 25 of this category except Texas, who ranks 10th with 21.3 team fouls per game.

Overall: Depth comparisons

Of the teams ranked inside the top 13, LSU has some of the least depth of any team. Here is a ranking for the average of players to appear in each team’s last two games against a ranked opponent.

Stanford- 10.5 players

Iowa- 10.5 players

Kansas State- 9.5 players

Colorado- 9.5 players

South Carolina- 9.5 players

USC- 9 players

Ohio State- 9 players

UConn- 8.5 players

UCLA- 8.5 players

NC State- 8.5 players

Texas- 8 players

Notre Dame- 7 players

LSU- 7 players

This may seem like a confusing statistic, but the lack of depth LSU has, especially for important games, could likely be something that holds the Tigers back from exceeding its full potential in the postseason. 

Other than Notre Dame, who is in a similar situation as LSU, the other 11 teams ranked above LSU won’t have to worry if a key player gets in foul trouble.

A prime example of this was LSU’s loss to South Carolina. When Reese fouled out of the game with four minutes left to play, the Tigers had no response in a game where they had control for the majority of the time. 

It may be too late to develop players that haven’t always held key roles off the bench, but for the team that averages the most amount of fouls per game in the country, it can’t be comfortable to not have the same amount of options as other teams.