Selection Sunday is one of the most anticipated days of the college basketball season.
As Kim Mulkey and her 2025 LSU team gathered in the PMAC along with Tiger fans, they all found out together that the Tigers will be a No. 3 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
LSU will face No. 14 San Diego State in the opening round of the tournament at the PMAC, and will be a part of the Spokane 1 Regional.
“When you’re going into a game, and you know nothing about personnel, you just start focusing in and you start fixating on that one team,” Mulkey said.
The winner of the matchup between the Tigers and the Aztecs will face the winner of No. 6 seed Florida State and No. 11 seed George Mason in the second round of the tournament, which will also be played at the PMAC.
The route to the Final Four has its obstacles for LSU. The Spokane 1 Regional is highlighted by No. 1 seed UCLA, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, along with No. 2 seed NC State.
LSU beat NC State 82-65 on Nov. 27 in the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship.
At the No. 4 seed in the Spokane 1 Regional is a team that Mulkey is very familiar with: Baylor.
The Bears take on No. 13 seed Grand Canyon in the first round, and the winner of that matchup will play the winner of No. 5 seed Ole Miss and No. 12 seed Ball State. LSU would not see Baylor until the Elite Eight if both teams were to stay alive until that round.
LSU has not played in eight days, and being able to take a step back before its biggest games is certainly a good thing.
The Tigers have lost three of their last four games, and four of their last seven games. Flau’jae Johnson was unavailable for the SEC Tournament, but she is healthy and ready to go for the Tigers in the NCAA Tournament.
Aneesah Morrow will also take the floor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after reinjuring her foot against Texas in the SEC Tournament, an injury that sidelined her against Georgia on Feb. 20.
“We have everybody,” Mulkey said after LSU’s loss to Texas in the SEC Tournament.
Having everyone healthy is one of the most crucial things a team can hope for, especially in its most important days. That’s where LSU finds itself; healed up and ready for tournament play.
The Tigers are now in survival mode, taking it one game at a time to survive and advance until they’re the last team standing.
“Everybody’s going to start this game excited. Everybody’s going to start this game aggressive,” Mulkey said. “Everybody realizes you lose, you go home.”
