With LSU’s men’s basketball team having won five of its first six Southeastern Conference games, many analysts are beginning to take note of the Tigers’ on-court success.The Tigers have risen all the way to No. 30 in the Associated Press’s Top 25 poll after having not received any votes last week.LSU has also moved into the NCAA tournament as a No. 10 seed, according to ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi, who has accurately predicted 64 of the NCAA tournament’s 65 teams each of the past three years.”We’ve got a long way to go,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “I’ll worry about Selection Sunday when it happens.”Johnson is focused on his team’s meeting with Georgia this Thursday despite the new-found recognition.”Obviously, we’re excited about the position we’re in right now,” he said. “But we also understand that we need to continue to be ready to play.”Georgia enters the game as the SEC’s lone winless team, but Johnson said LSU will be beaten if they overlook their 9-12 opponent.”When you start to feel good about yourself, you’re going to get knocked in the face,” he said. “We need to try to stay on an even keel like we’ve done for the most part all year.BYE BYE FELTON, HELLO KNIGHT?The Bulldogs will face LSU on Wednesday without coach Dennis Felton, who was fired last week after a 9-11 start and five straight Southeastern Conference losses.Felton was on the hot seat last season, but those rumors subsided after the Bulldogs won the SEC tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament.Former Indiana and Texas Tech coach Bob Knight is one of the names who will be considered for the Bulldogs’ vacancy, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.University of Georgia president Michael Adams told the Journal Constitution he would not comment on specific candidates until the season ended, but said the Bulldogs will be interested in an experienced coach.”We’re looking for a proven entity — and I think a proven entity at this level,” he said. “I mean somebody who has some experience at a major place.”Knight resigned Feb. 4, 2008 after nearly seven seasons as the Red Raiders’ coach.WILDCATS DROP BACK TO THE PACKAfter climbing into the Top 25 for the first time this season, Kentucky took a pair of steps backward this week with losses to Mississippi and South Carolina.The Wildcats (16-6, 5-2) will be tested again tonight when they take on Mississippi State (14-7, 4-2) in Lexington, Ky.Junior guard Jodie Meeks continued to thrive last week and had a pair of 20-point games despite Kentucky’s struggles. Meeks now has nine straight games surpassing the 20-point plateau.He will be facing a Mississippi State defense that has struggled defending the perimeter recently, allowing 31 points to LSU senior guard Marcus Thornton on Jan. 21 and 18 points to Mississippi freshman guard Terrico White last Saturday.But Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said, despite his team’s expected advantage on the perimeter, the key to Tuesday’s game is containing Mississippi State’s post players.That’s something the Wildcats did not do last week when they were outrebounded, 32-19, on the offensive glass in their two games.”If we don’t find some toughness somewhere in our defensive rebounding, then it is going to be a long rest of conference season,” he said. “We are getting whipped in the lane, big time.”–Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]