The LSU basketball team dropped seven spots in the Associated Press media poll following back-to-back Southeastern Conference losses against Vanderbilt and Auburn. The Tigers, who were previously ranked 18th, fell to No. 25 for the week of Feb. 10.

LSU had tempted fate with their conference opponents. Going into their matchup with Vanderbilt, six of the Tigers’ eight SEC victories were decided by four points or less. LSU surrendered 99 points in a loss to Vanderbilt, who picked up their first conference win for the first time since March of 2018.

In what looked to be a bounce-back game, LSU fell to No. 11 Auburn in overtime after squandering a 15-point lead. Coach Will Wade said he was proud of the way the team responded following the loss to Vandy.

“It’s a gut punch,” Wade said. “We’ve had a lot of these games where we’ve played very, very well. Controlled the game for a while. One of those days, but I can’t fault our guys’ effort.”

LSU (17-6, 8-2 SED) has now been ranked in the top 25 for three consecutive weeks and find themselves in a three-way tie with Auburn and Kentucky for first in the SEC.

LSU still has a chance to defend their SEC title with eight conference games remaining, including a home matchup against Kentucky next week. Coach Wade wants to take things game by game as they look to make a late push to improve their potential NCAA Tournament seeding.

“At the end of the day, I’m as down as anybody, but we’re still tied for first place,” Wade said. “It’s an eight-game race to see who can win. We’re certainly going to need to bounce back again and get ready to play Missouri on Tuesday.”

LSU will host Missouri at the Maravich Center on Tuesday at 8 p.m. on SEC Network.