Seeing Dickie V on ESPN ranting and raving about each year’s NCAA Tournament field brings March Madness to fruition.
Winter turns into spring, and daylight saving time takes away a beloved hour of our time around the Elite Eight (well, in April, I think).
For the first time since 2000, the LSU men’s and women’s basketball teams are in the tournament, making this season all the more sweeter.
The women were even given the No. 1 seed in the West and will be shipped to Eugene, Ore., for first and second round games. The Lady Tigers will face Southwest Texas, a team they beat 91-40 earlier this season. LSU will probably win this game handily and face the winner of No. 8 Wisconsin-Green Bay versus No. 9 Washington matchup, another game in which they should be victorious.
The most intriguing storyline could be when LSU plays Louisiana Tech. I don’t think it will be a matter of if these two teams play, but what time they will play in the Sweet 16 in Stanford, Calif.
Since we are playing a game of “what ifs” and assuming the Lady Tigers beat the Lady Techsters, LSU will either take on either Stanford on its home court or No. 2 seeded Texas. LSU beat Texas earlier in the year, 76-58, in Baton Rouge.
The ladies would then get a chance to slay the defending champions in the Connecticut Huskies, the No. 1 seed in the East Region, assuming UCONN wins its games. The Lady Tigers could be on the verge of a National Championship.
In the men’s tournament, LSU was given a decent draw. The No. 8 seeded Tigers will face a No. 9 seeded Purdue Boilermaker squad in Birmingham, Ala., that has been on a recent bad slide. Memories will reappear when LSU takes on Texas (after LSU beats Purdue handily) in the second round. It was a Stromile Swift blocked shot on UT’s Chris Mihm in the final minutes that thwarted a Texas victory in the 2000 tourney and sent LSU to the Sweet 16.
LSU has enough team quickness to give Texas problems, and the athleticism of forwards Ronald Dupree and Jaime Lloreda could give the Longhorns difficulties. If the Tigers rebound and play solid perimeter defense, which includes stopping UT point guard T.J. Ford, LSU could be in line for a big upset and break the South region bracket wide open.
The two teams have a chance to make some noise and March even crazier, but will they? Stay tuned, the Madness is only beginning.