The SEC Women’s Basketball tournament begins next Wednesday, and the Tigers clinched a No. 2 seed in the tournament with a win Thursday night against Vanderbilt.

If the tournament was played on paper, LSU would have a very good chance of making it to the SEC Championship. But, of course, it’s not.

There are several threats in the SEC this season, most notably the No. 1-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks. But they certainly aren’t the only team in LSU’s way of potentially winning a conference championship. Below are LSU’s biggest threats headed into the SEC Tournament.

South Carolina

South Carolina has taken the women’s college basketball world by storm in recent years. This year is no different. Coming off a national championship last season, the Gamecocks returned a lot from last year’s team, including the projected No. 1 overall WNBA Draft pick, Aliyah Boston. But she leads a team that has flexed its depth all season.

In LSU’s matchup with the Gamecocks, Boston and 6-foot-7 center, Kamilla Cardoso, presented a challenge to Angel Reese in the paint that she hadn’t seen this season. That being said, just about every team was in the same boat. The two post players are what South Carolina revolves around, but their guard play to add on with it makes them that much more dangerous.

Zia Cooke is South Carolina’s leading scorer with 15.6 points per game. In the matchup with LSU, she scored 17. Brea Beal was also there for the perimeter players with 11 points that game. 

But what makes South Carolina so dangerous is its depth. The Gamecocks have been able to substitute several players in at any time of the game and get just about the same level of production. In the postseason especially, this will be hard to play against.

Tennessee

In some ways, Tennessee could be a bigger threat to LSU than South Carolina is. If LSU were to lose to Tennessee instead of South Carolina, its tournament seeding could be affected. With another loss to South Carolina in the tournament, there would be a better chance LSU’s seeding will remain the same.

Rickea Jackson and Jordan Horston have been the dynamic duo for the Volunteers all season. It makes perfect sense why both are projected Top 10-WNBA draft picks. Jackson leads the team with 18.9 points per game, and Horston is right behind her at 15.5. Jackson scored 17 points in Tennessee’s matchup with LSU, but Jordan Walker led the team that game with 19 points.

LSU proved a lot in its matchup with Tennessee. The Tigers faced adversity in the first half; Angel Reese was held to just four points and four rebounds in the first half. But they gained more clarity in their identity that night in that they dug deep in the second half and were able to pull out an important win.

Ole Miss

With LSU, South Carolina and Tennessee getting a lot of attention, a team like Ole Miss could be a “dark horse” in the SEC Tournament. That could be dangerous to LSU. The advantage LSU has is that it just played the Rebels.

But this goes both ways.

The Rebels set themselves apart with their defense. They allow the second least points per game in the SEC this season behind only South Carolina. They’re also fourth in the SEC in defensive rebounds per game, and third in the SEC in blocks per game. 

But the way Ole Miss has been able to complement its defense with its offense has kept the Rebels near the top of the conference standings. Angel Baker leads the team in points per game at 15.2, and she scored a team-high of 21 points against LSU.

Ole Miss also set itself apart in that they are closest SEC team to beat South Carolina. The Rebels ran right with the Gamecocks and were tied at 55 at the end of regulation. Despite coming up short, having the momentum that they came that close to slaying the giant could be dangerous.

Mississippi State

Coach Kim Mulkey considered the Bulldogs the hottest team in the conference following the Tigers’ win against Vanderbilt.

Mississippi State has won five of their last six games, including a win over Tennessee in double overtime. In four of those six games, JerKaila Jordan led the team in scoring. But she isn’t the only one to worry about on Mississippi State’s squad.

Jordan averages 11.8 points per game and five rebounds per game, but Jessika Carter leads the team in points per game with 14.8 along with 7.8 rebounds per game. Similarly to Tennessee, Mississippi State is led by two players in most cases but has more that step up frequently.

Georgia

Besides South Carolina, who did beat LSU, Georgia came the closest to giving the Tigers their second loss. LSU escaped that game with an 82-77 win in overtime.

What seemingly threw LSU off that game was the zone defense the Bulldogs ran. With only two or three days to adjust to that scheme, LSU was down for the majority of that game. If the Tigers had more days to prepare, maybe the game would have been different.

But that isn’t the case.

Diamond Battle leads the team in scoring 14.2 points per game, and Brittney Smith is right behind at 12.1. In their matchup with LSU, Battle led Georgia with 22 points. Along with Battle, four other Bulldogs scored in double figures. 

With Kentucky winning the SEC Tournament last year as a No. seven-seed, a team like Georgia could catch fire early in the tournament and run with it all the way to the end.