There’s nothing I love more than instant results.That’s why I own two microwaves.LSU coach Trent Johnson has brought that kind of instant success to LSU’s men’s basketball program in his first season.This time last season, the Tigers were 1-5 in Southeastern Conference play and couldn’t even dream of making the big dance.The Tigers right now are 5-1 in the SEC — the top in the conference — and have begun to spur talk of being a tournament “bubble team.” That’s change I can believe in. After starting conference play with a 6-point loss to Alabama, the Tigers bounced back and trounced South Carolina, Ole Miss and Mississippi State in three-straight games.After a non-conference loss to Xavier, LSU held on to beat Tennessee and won the 100th Anniversary game against Arkansas on Saturday.This team is pretty good against the teams in SEC, but is that good enough to make the NCAA tournament?No. No, it isn’t. The Tigers haven’t played that great outside of the conference, and that’s going to hurt.Twelve of the 15 non-conference opponents LSU has played are at a level comparable to Bruce Springsteen during halftime at the Super Bowl this weekend — not very good.They’ve pounded on three Southwestern Athletic Conference teams in Grambling, Alcorn State and Jackson State, who are a combined 16-45.They’ve also played six more in-state teams who don’t have a chance of making it to the tournament unless they win their conference — plus Troy from Alabama. Two teams from the West Coast were supposed to be legit challenges for the Tigers. They weren’t. Cal State Fullerton and Washington State were both tournament teams last season, and LSU beat both fairly soundly. The Cougars actually held a second-half lead in that contest before losing by 12.And neither of those teams are on pace to make it back to the NCAA tournament — Washington State has a 12-9 record, and Cal State Fullerton is 11-10.The three other non-conference teams the Tigers played have owned LSU. Utah blasted LSU by 30, Texas A&M pulled away to win by 11 and Xavier beat a streaking LSU team by 10 in the PMAC two weekends ago. The Tigers’ lack of quality wins will be what keeps them out of the tournament. LSU has the No. 55 best rating percentage index in the country out of 343 teams, according to RPIratings.com. The SEC has the No. 6-best rating out of 32 conferences.That’s not very good for a team that’s most likely going to have to rely on an at-large bid to the dance. This isn’t a slight on the Tigers, since they have no say in who their conference mates play and how bad they play against them. LSU is literally doing all they can to push toward the tournament. The Tigers are at or near the top of the SEC in many statistical categories. The team ranks No. 1 in 3-point percentage at more than 38 percent. They’re No. 2 in scoring defense, No. 3 in rebounds and blocks and No. 4 in assists and field goal percentage. The league’s No. 3 scorer and No. 2 stealer both suit up for the Tigers. Senior guard Marcus Thornton has been playing lights out almost all season and is averaging 19.4 points a game, and senior guard Garrett Temple averages almost 2.2 steals a game.When LSU’s name isn’t called on Selection Sunday, don’t blame Johnson and his boys because they’ve done pretty much all they can.Blame the rest of the SEC for not being that good.—- Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]