The end of January is approaching and at LSU that means two things: The start of baseball season is just around the corner, and the men’s basketball team should be in its traditional midseason swoon. Yep, it’s that time of year.
True to form, after starting the season with a 12-1 record and a 2-0 mark in the Southeastern Conference and nearly cracking the Top 25, the Tigers are in a three-game SEC losing streak with a home loss to Mississippi State and road losses to Ole Miss and South Carolina.
I can only imagine coach John Brady is thinking, “Here we go again.”
This kind of slump is nothing new for LSU basketball followers in the past three seasons. In the 2000-2001 season, an undermanned LSU team with five scholarship players lost 13 of its first 14 SEC games and finished the year 2-14 in conference.
The 2001-2002 team got off to a 2-2 start in league play before losing six SEC games in a row in late January and February for a 2-8 record.
Things looked a little more promising last season when the Tigers trounced then-No. 7 Mississippi State in its second game of league play, but the Tigers went on a five-game losing streak through January and found themselves at 1-6.
The thing the last two teams have in common is both found a way to save their seasons.
The 2002 LSU team won four of its last six regular season games and grabbed two wins in the SEC Tournament and found itself in the National Invitation Tournament.
Last season, the Tigers won six of their last eight league games – including its last four – to finish with an 8-8 SEC record. The Tigers also won two more in the SEC Tournament, including an upset over No. 7 Florida and landed a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
So with that in mind, what about this season’s team? The losing streak is at three games, but it hasn’t hit rock bottom as in the previous two seasons.
Brady’s got to believe his young team is improving with each game, but if the Tigers want to return to the Big Dance this season they must find a way to get to .500 in league play.
LSU (12-4, 2-3) has six home games remaining. They host Georgia on Wednesday and host Tennessee, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky and Ole Miss. LSU needs to win at least five of these, with Feb. 29’s nationally televised game against Kentucky.
The Tigers also have five road games starting at Alabama on Saturday followed by road trips to Florida, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Auburn. The Tigers need to steal a couple on the road, most likely at Alabama and Auburn.
If the Tigers can follow this formula, that would land them a 9-7 conference mark and should get them in the Big Dance.