Focusing only on basketball maybe hard for many Tiger fans, but the LSU Men’s Basketball team will be the one seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament and have a chance to win its first tournament championship since 1980.
The Tigers first contest will be with the Florida Gators, who won its second round game against Arkansas with a very convincing 66-50 scoreline. LSU have become very familiar with the Gators this season, playing them twice and both games going into overtime. The margin of victory in both games combined was just six points.With freshman guard Javonte Smart has cleared to play, the Tigers will need to be as good defensively as they’ve been in the last four games, only allowing 70 or more points once (which was the Florida overtime game on March 6).
Another key will be whether or not LSU can carry over its hot shooting from beyond the arc, which saw them shoot 53.8 percent against Vanderbilt. Something interesting to watch for will be if LSU interim coach Tony Benford decides to give junior Marshall Graves more minutes after his stellar performance against Vandy, going 4-8 from three. This will most likely hinge on how many minutes Smart will play, but either way, LSU may look for a spark off the bench and Graves has shown the ability to provide that spark.
If the Tigers advance to the semifinals, they will face the winner of Auburn and South Carolina, which will be played following LSU’s game. LSU beat both Auburn and South Carolina in its regular season meetings, but there’s no doubt which team the Tigers would rather face. LSU beat South Carolina in the regular season 89-67, and the Gamecocks simply looked overmatched on Jan. 19. South Carolina played well enough in the conference to get the four seed in the tournament, but have had an up-and-down season, starting with some rough non-conference losses to Stony Brook, Providence, Wofford (which was by 20 points) and Wyoming. The Gamecocks have lost three of its last five, but did beat Auburn 80-77 in their only regular season matchup. While a date with the Gamecocks would be a quote-on-quote “easier” or more favorable draw for LSU, getting another win over Auburn, who are considered by most outlets to be an NCAA Tournament team, would give an extra boost to LSU’s résumé.
Barring a few upsets and if the Tigers were to reach the final, their opponent would almost certainly be either Kentucky or Tennessee. As of right now, ESPN’s Bracketology has the Wildcats as a No. 1 seed, but if they were to lose to LSU in the final, it would be tough for the committee to let them keep that top seed having lost to the Tigers twice.
It’s possible that there’s no path to a one seed for LSU, but the best they can do is win the conference championship, and hope that winning both the regular season and conference tournament championships will be enough to award them a No. 1 seed.
