LSU is written in ink in every NCAA tournament projection. The only question is where do they fall?
LSU is an interesting team to gauge, but first to understand why that is, you have to understand the way team’s wins and losses are graded by the selection committee and the way metrics such as NET impact how a team is viewed.
All Division 1 teams are ranked, and their respective wins and losses are broken down into four quadrants, which are defined as followed, according to changes made by the NCAA last year.
- Quadrant 1: Home games against teams ranked 1-30; Neutral site games against teams ranked 1-50; Away games against teams ranked 1-75
- Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135.
- Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240.
- Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353.
Prior to this season the teams were ranked on a metric known as RPI, but starting this year a new metric was developed — NET.
At the moment, LSU is No. 13 in NET. They are 9-2 in quadrant 1 games, but quadrant 2 losses against Oklahoma State, Florida and Arkansas drag down LSU’s overall resume.
The Breakdown
- NET: 13
- RPI: 19
- AP: 10
- ESPN’s BPI: 25 (11 in strength of record)
Bracketology projections
- Jerry Palm (CBS): No. 2 LSU vs No. 15 Wright State
- Joe Lunardi (ESPN): No. 4 LSU vs No. 13 Lipscomb
- Andy Katz (NCAA.com): No. 4 LSU vs No. 13 Hofstra
- SBNation.com: No. 3 LSU
- Teamrankings.com: No. 2 LSU
The official bracket will be released on Selection Sunday (March 17).
