Here’s a few thoughts on LSU athletics in a rather busy time for Tigers sports. The Southeastern Conference basketball tournament starts Thursday, spring football is right around the corner and LSU baseball is in full swing.
— At 18-9 overall and 8-8 in conference play, the LSU basketball team is probably a lock for the tournament no matter what happens against either South Carolina or Arkansas Thursday in Atlanta.
The Tigers have an RPI of 33 and a strength of schedule of 26, which normally would be enough to garner a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
But there is one very large catch this year. Departed senior forward Jaime Lloreda led LSU to its lofty RPI and played a large part in beating some rather strong opponents, and the selection committee will definitely take into account his absence.
There is a precedent to this kind of situation. In 2000, All-American Kenyon Martin of Cincinnati broke his leg in the quarterfinal round of the Conference USA Tournament, and because of his absence, the Bearcats were knocked out of the No. 1 seed of the whole tournament and instead received a two-seed. They went on to lose in the second round.
If LSU wins one game in Atlanta, they are in, no questions asked. But if they go one-and-done, the Tigers will have to sweat it out, and their tournament hopes will rest on a very thin bubble.
The saga of LSU football scheduling continues.
Once again, a non-conference opponent scheduled to play the Tigers has backed out to make way for a weaker one.
Houston, who was scheduled to visit Baton Rouge on Sept. 11, 2004, backed out of its deal with the Tigers for what had to be a “sweeter deal” from Oklahoma. The Cougars pretty much switched out one romping for another.
Instead of having a team that played in a bowl in 2003 from a respectable conference, LSU will host Arkansas State, who went 5-7 in 2003, including 3-3 in the ultra-powerful Sun Belt Conference (wink, wink).
Football scheduling has become a joke and contracts have become useless. Houston’s disappearing act is the second one on the 2004 schedule, as LSU was supposed to host powerhouse Virginia Tech to open the season after the Tigers went to Blacksburg, Va., in 2002. But the Hokies backed out on the return trip and put it off to 2007. We’ll see if that ever happens.
Stiffer fines must be placed on backing out of contracts, or schools will continue to toy with LSU’s schedule.
LSU freshman pitcher Clay Dirks is good — really good.
The lefty has a 3-0 record with a 1.42 ERA in four appearances and has been nearly unhittable.
He absolutely shut down a potent Tulane squad and early on against the University of Louisiana at Monroe made the Indians lineup look like child’s play.
Because of his emergence, he presents a problem to LSU coach Smoke Laval that any skipper would like to have — four more than capable pitchers and only three games in a weekend.
However, if everybody stays healthy, it gives LSU an advantage that few other teams in the country have — a great fourth starter for a run in Omaha.