If LSU can achieve its preseason goal of winning the Southeastern Conference championship, this week’s 2008 SEC Tournament will be a shot at vengeance.The Tigers may have a chance at a rematch with all three teams that defeated them in the regular season — Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida.LSU kicks off the tournament today at noon against Ole Miss in Orange Beach, Ala. If the Tigers are successful, they could face the Volunteers in the tournament’s semifinals. And the Tigers — and regular season champions Florida — would face off in the championship game if the tournament seeds hold true.”Everyone’s really excited. We have a great chance to win, and we want to play the teams that we came out of without a win,” said senior midfielder Casey Crawford. “We’re ready to play, and we’re ready to get somewhere.”The Tigers head into this year’s tournament with unprecedented success on their side.Friday’s 3-1 win against Arkansas secured LSU’s spot as the tournament’s No. 2 seed, its highest seeding ever. The Tigers also enter postseason play with a No. 14 national ranking, the team’s best ranking at the end of a regular season.”Finishing second in the SEC is nothing to be shy about,” said LSU coach Brian Lee. “We’re happy the kids did it.”This year’s team will have a bit more experience to draw from than in seasons past. LSU advanced to the semifinals in 2007 before being knocked out by Florida, which went on to win the tournament.”Last year we fought really hard in a really close game,” said junior midfielder Melissa Clarke. “I learned the lesson ‘Don’t give up,’ because in a section of the game we gave up and kind of gave the game away. We’ve learned better. We’re more mature, and we might walk away with this one.”LSU senior forward Rosyln Jones said last season’s learning experiences have given the younger players more confidence.”I feel like the younger girls know what is expected and how it works,” Jones said. “We’re more mature in that aspect.”Jones’ overtime goal against Samford last season sent the Tigers through to the second round of the NCAA tournament.For Jones, Crawford and senior goalkeeper Jackie Moseley this postseason will be the final chance for a championship in careers that have seen two Western division titles, three SEC tournament appearances and an NCAA tournament appearance, but no hardware.”Hopefully we’re a better team,” Lee said. “We’re a year older and a year wiser, and we can go approach [the tournament] and win three games in six days and win a championship.”—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]