If you ask LSU sports historians what was the greatest season in men’s basketball history, there are probably a handful of answers you would get.
Some would point to the “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s final season in 1970, when the Tigers went 22-10 and reached the National Invitational Tournament Final Four, which at the time was a much more prestigious tournament than it is now. LSU would go on to lose in the semifinal to eventual champion Marquette, cementing Maravich’s legacy as an incredible player, even though the team as a whole ultimately fell just short.
Others would point to the 1980-81 season, when the Tigers were led by All-American senior Durand “Rudy” Macklin and sophomore second-team all-Southeastern Conference member Howard Carter. LSU went 31-5 and 17-1 in the SEC, earning the team a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers would make it to the Final Four, but lose to eventual national champion Indiana in the semifinal.
While the ‘80-81 team may have had a better overall season, the parallels between the 2005-06 team and this year’s are somewhat uncanny.
Not only did the team feature strong freshman players — Tyrus Thomas and Tasmin Mitchell — it also had a sophomore leader in Glen “Big Baby” Davis. The ‘05 team even eerily lost to Houston early in the season, along with a few other losses before conference play, similar to this 2018-19 season.
The biggest connection of them all though is the 6-0 starts to SEC play, and the ‘05 season just so happens to be the last time the Tigers started 6-0 in conference play until this season. Even crazier is the fact that four of the six games featured the same opponents: Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia. The margin of victory in the first six games is only a two-point difference, with the average for the ‘05 season being slightly higher at 13.1 and the ‘18 season at 11.1.
The margin of victory is similar, but LSU has had to scratch and claw their way to that 6-0 record, just recently coming back from a 14-point deficit with just 2:08 seconds left to play in the second half against Missouri.
Another tight finish and clutch play was required when the Tigers traveled to the always intimidating Bud Walton Arena to take on Arkansas, and the game had to be decided in overtime. LSU would come away with the 94-88 victory in front of 17,361 Razorback fans.
Even though the Tigers have gotten off to a hot start, there are still 12 conference games remaining, and the schedule only gets tougher from here, with dates against No. 1 Tennessee, No. 7 Kentucky and No. 22 Mississippi State.
So while the parallels this far in the season compare favorably to the 2005 Final Four team, LSU still has a long way to go before this season can be considered one for the ages.

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LSU junior forward Glen Davis breaks through the block of a McNeese State University defender Wednesday to make a basket in the Tigers' 91-57 win over the Cowboys in the PMAC. Davis and the Tigers defeated Tulane University in New Orleans, 74-67. Davis had 20 points and 13 rebounds.